Why are my children often having nightmares?

Contents:

• Medical Video: Why Do We Get Nightmares?
  
• Why can a nightmare appear?
  
• The cause of a child often has nightmares
  
• My child is very often having nightmares. Is a nightmare dangerous?
  

Medical Video: Why Do We Get Nightmares?

Everyone must have had a nightmare. But, children are actually more often nightmares than adults. Report of a study fromThe American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM), quoted by the Medical Daily, said that at least ten to fifty percent of children aged 5-12 years admitted that they often had severe nightmares and worried their parents. What, anyway, which causes children to often have nightmares?

Why can a nightmare appear?

Dreaming is actually a thought process; continuation of what we think and feel during our day of activities. Nightmares are when we think about troublesome problems during REM (Rapid Eye Movement) and try to tidy them up. We often try to ignore the difficult problems that bother us during the day, but when we sleep and are forced to 'be alone' inside our own heads, the brain will discuss this difficult problem. Nightmares might also come from fear in your subconscious self.

Children often have nightmares, but are most commonly experienced by children aged 3-6 years. Some studies estimate 50% of children in this age range often experience nightmares. Children can experience various dreams. For example, seeing monsters, ghosts, wild animals and bad people. At this age, the imagination of children is indeed growing "fertile" and in the most active period, so that normal fear can persist and develop into a nightmare.

Keep in mind that sleep itself is divided into two stages: rapid eye movement (REM) and nonrapid eye movement (non-REM). REM and non-REM sleep occurs once every 90-100 minutes during your sleep. Dreams usually occur during REM sleep in the middle of the night or early morning.

The cause of a child often has nightmares

If in general, nightmares in adults are triggered by stress or certain health problems, the cause of frequent nightmares may include:

1. Fatigue and lack of sleep. Excessive fatigue and lack of sleep can cause your child to have nightmares.
2. Is sick and has a fever. When your child has a high fever due to an illness, he may experience nightmares.
3. Currently undergoing the treatment process. Drugs taken to cure the disease can make your child have nightmares. This is caused by chemicals contained in drugs, such as antidepressants. In addition, the sudden dismissal of drug use can also be a cause of your child's nightmares.
4. Experience a scary thing. Horror stories or films that "swallow" children during their activities can affect the child's dream content when they sleep at night. In addition, the trauma of a bad experience, such as the death of a family member, divorce from a parent, seeing his parents quarrel, to a motorized accident, can also trigger children to have nightmares.
5. Anxiety because of experiencing new changes in life. Changes in life are natural. However, the anxiety that your child feels can make your child have a nightmare. For example, moving a house or changing schools, or having a new family member.
6. Genetics. Apparently, genetic factors can also play a role in causing nightmares in children. About 7% of children who experience nightmares have a family history that also experiences nightmares. For example, a brother or parent also has a history of frequent nightmares.

My child is very often having nightmares. Is a nightmare dangerous?

The various triggers above can cause children to often have nightmares. But, if nightmares continue to occur in a row, especially if the child complains about the "theme", "plot", "character" the same story, you might need to invite him to consult a doctor.

Nightmares can occur due to trauma which is quite deep so that it can cause post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), or it may also be a sign of a depressed child. These two psychiatric problems can be dangerous.Try to find out and understand the events that make your child traumatized and try to explain and feel safe. If it doesn't work, you can consult a doctor.