Your Childrens Health

Regardless of whether or not you are a parent you know what nightmares are. It is highly likely that when you were younger you had them. Do you remember waking up in the middle of the night scared thinking that something was wrong? If you are a parent then nightmares are something that can impact your child’s sleep and have an affect on their health.

When a child has a nightmare it is likely that they will scream or even come into your bedroom to wake you up. Older children may be more able to get to you when they believe that they are in trouble, but infant and toddlers may not be able to get out of their crib. Parents whose bedrooms are not near the bedroom of their child should be using a baby monitor. A baby monitor is a way to keep an eye on your child by listening to the noises in their room without actually being there. This is important because if a parent does not hear their child’s cries then this is where nightmares can become a health issue.

If a parent or guardian does not come into their child’s bedroom to care for a scared child they may end up going back to sleep on their own, but a large number of children do not. Sleep deprivation, even if it only lasts one night, can extremely painful for both children and parents. Children without enough sleep are likely to display a mix of different emotions. It is not uncommon for a child without enough sleep to constantly be crying, upset, or confused one minute and then different the next. If a parent tries to get their child to sleep throughout the day it is likely that rest of their daily schedule may be off and it is likely that children will have a difficult time getting back to sleep at night again.

To prevent lack of sleep from occurring parents are encouraged to go to their child if they awake in the middle of the night with a nightmare. Parents should stay with their child and comfort them until they can get back to sleep. You may be sleepy yourself, but only five to ten minutes of your time is likely to make a world of difference the next morning.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 31st, 2006 at 11:56 am and is filed under Sleep. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.