Nightmares are scary dreams that often happen during the second half of the night when dreaming is most intense. Children may start having nightmares as young as 6 months of age. They tend to peak between 3 and 12 years old. Children may wake up crying or feeling afraid and may have trouble falling back to sleep.
You feel scared, anxious, angry, sad or disgusted as a result of your dream. You feel sweaty or have a pounding heartbeat while in bed. You can think clearly upon awakening and can recall details of your dream. Your dream causes distress that keeps you from falling back to sleep easily.
How to know if it's a nightmare. If your child wakes up crying or fearful and has trouble getting back to sleep, chances are he's had a nightmare. These scary episodes usually take place during the second half of the night, when dreaming is most likely to occur.
Even toddlers may speak about having dreams — pleasant ones and scary ones. Almost every child has an occasional frightening or upsetting dream. But nightmares seem to peak during the preschool years when fear of the dark is common.
Night terrors are relatively rare — they happen in only 3%–6% of kids, while almost every child will have a nightmare occasionally. Night terrors usually happen in kids between 4 and 12 years old, but have been reported in babies as young as 18 months. They seem to be a little more common among boys.
Sleep terrors differ from nightmares. The dreamer of a nightmare wakes up from the dream and may remember details, but a person who has a sleep terror episode remains asleep. Children usually don't remember anything about their sleep terrors in the morning.
The cause is unknown but night terrors are often triggered by fever, lack of sleep or periods of emotional tension, stress or conflict. Night terrors are like nightmares, except that nightmares usually occur during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and are most common in the early morning.
A child who is having a night terror is stuck halfway between being asleep and awake. They are awake enough to get out of bed, talk or scream and have their eyes open; but they are asleep in that they do not respond to a parent trying to console them. They usually don't remember the episode in the morning.
But even though your child may be upset, occasional nightmares in children are nothing to worry about. “Parents should only be concerned about nightmares if scary dreams are very frequent, or if the same dream occurs over and over,” says Pott. “This might indicate a particularly stressful event or time for the child.”
The primary cause is sleep deprivation in general. Sleep apnea and fevers can also cause night terrors. Consider logging when your child wakes up screaming to see if you can see any pattern. Then, start to put her to bed earlier, even if it's by only 20 minutes.
Night terrors usually occur in children from one to eight years old. You'll know it's a night terror because usually between one to two hours after your child going to sleep, they will wake up screaming and the screaming lasts up to 30 minutes.
During a night terror children might look like they're in a panic. Their hearts might be racing, and they might be breathing fast and sweating. Children might also look like they're awake – for example, their eyes might be open or they might be crying. Some children might even sit up or get out of bed and run around.
Babies with night terrors may seem to be in a state of panic or fear. They may not respond to the adults around them and may also seem very confused. During a night terror, a baby may scream, cry, or have a rapid heart rate. Afterward, the baby may show no signs of distress.
It's actually rare for infants to have night terrors — most often, the crying young babies do in the night isn't related to night terrors. However, you may begin noticing them when your baby is around 18 months old. Night terrors are most common in preschool-age children, around 3 to 4 years old.
Your son could be having sleep terrors, also referred to as night terrors. During a sleep terror kids will appear fearful and may have difficulty breathing and a rapid heartbeat. They may sit up in bed, thrash around, and scream. Sleep terrors might remind us of nightmares, but they're actually very different.
What causes night terrors? Night terrors are inherited, meaning a child gets the disorder from his or her parents and the condition runs in families. They occur in 2% of children and usually are not caused by psychological stress. Being overtired can trigger night terrors.
Therefore, decreased serum vitamin D levels and decreased calcium intake may be associated with the development of nightmares and bad dreams indirectly through their association with the psychological symptoms and MSP.
Night terrors stem from an arousal disorder, known as a parasomnia, which occur during deep sleep, says pediatric pulmonologist and sleep specialist Katharina Graw-Panzer, MD. They affect nearly 40% of children between 4 and 12–years-old, with 5-7 being the peak age range.
The primary cause is sleep deprivation in general. Sleep apnea and fevers can also cause night terrors. Consider logging when your child wakes up screaming to see if you can see any pattern. Then, start to put her to bed earlier, even if it's by only 20 minutes.
About five per cent of children have night terrors; they usually happen in preschool- and primary school-aged children. Night terrors will not have any long-term effects on your child, and your child will most likely grow out of them. Overtiredness and not enough sleep can make night terrors more frequent.
While night terrors can last as long as 45 minutes, most are much shorter. Most children fall right back to sleep after a night terror because they actually have not been awake. Unlike a nightmare, a child will not remember a night terror.
Separation anxiety
“It's common for babies this age to wake up, realize Mom or Dad isn't around, and lose it.” If your baby wakes up screaming but then calms down the minute you race to their bedroom, you're most likely dealing with an emotional need, not a dirty diaper or empty belly.
As babies develop more ways to express themselves, crying while asleep may be a sign that they are having a nightmare or night terror. Toddlers and older babies who cry while asleep, especially while moving in bed or making other sounds, may be having night terrors.