How to help my son when he has nightmares

Those distressing dreams that generate fear and anxiety, and that we have all experienced at some time, are known as nightmares . What many do not know is that nightmares are more frequent in childhood than in any other stage of our life, especially in children over 5 years. This situation also generates enormous stress in some parents, who do not know how to calm their little ones when they experience these bad dreams. Has it ever happened ?, In .com, we explain how to help your child when he has nightmares .

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As adults, nightmares can generate a lot of anguish, so it is easy to understand the impact that this type of dreams can have on a young child. So, the first step to help your child when he has nightmares is to have a lot of patience, since it is natural that the child sometimes can not distinguish whether his dream was real or not, or that he is well, which can cause him to alter a lot

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There are two reasons that specialists consider to be the main reasons why children are more prone to nightmares than adults. The first of these is the tension to which they are subjected daily in their rapid learning process, the second is their sensitivity to everything that happens around them, which can impact them in an important way.

Children have a very active imagination, so just look at something that generates fear to be deeply surprised, which can translate into a nightmare nightmare. Taking this into account, it is very important to control these factors that could trigger tensions and bad dreams.

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If your child suffers from nightmares, to help him it is important that:

• Avoid reprimand or suggest it with characters that scare him as "the coconut", "the bag man" the junkie "" the police "etc. This goes deep in his imagination, often being the cause of nightmares.
• Avoid exposing the child to scary movies, horror series, macabre characters, etc. In fact the best thing is that one hour before sleeping the child does not even watch television.
• Controls all the stimuli of the small at night. During the hours before going to bed it is not convenient for your child to play video games, watch action movies or be in contact with TV. This will only stimulate your imagination making you more prone to suffer from nightmares.
• Before going to bed give your little one a warm bath with ingredients that encourage relaxation like lavender or chamomile, this will allow you to rest much better.

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When the child has a nightmare you should go to his room and calm him down. It is necessary that the child understands that it is a bad dream and that it is not real, something that you will have to explain using the appropriate language for your age. Hug him, ask him to calm down, give him some infusion or hot milk to help him relax and let him return to sleep.

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When children suffer from nightmares it is also common to have fear of the dark, so a very simple and practical alternative is to install a child's night light that can be on while sleeping. They are low-energy and often a powerful soothing for the little ones, who need to make sure their room is free of ghosts, monsters and other terrifying characters.

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It is also common for the child to want to sleep with an object that gives security, such as a doll or a stuffed animal, and you want to accompany him to his room and tell a story to sleep. These rituals generate security, so a good way to help your child when he has nightmares is to accompany him in this process without forcing it. You will see that as you grow and gain security you will gradually leave these habits.

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If your child, more than nightmares, suffers from very frequent night terrors that are affecting their rest, concentration and family dynamics, it is convenient to contact a specialist to find a more professional way of dealing with the child's tensions and fears effectively.