What to do if your baby wakes up from a nightmare? How to avoid nightmares

When a child suddenly cries in the middle of the night, waving his hands and feet but not opening his eyes, he is probably having a nightmare! In addition to comforting the child immediately, parents should also find out why the child cannot fall asleep well, so as to prevent it from happening again and affecting the baby's sleep quality.

Reasons for baby's nightmares

Sources of nightmare situations: Parents should try to communicate with their children and find out exactly when and where their children saw what kind of scary people or things that caused the nightmare. Parents should also explain to their children that they don’t need to be afraid of dreams and eliminate their inner fear to avoid having nightmares again.

Fear of the dark or imagination: Some children may have nightmares due to fear of the dark. When the baby sees some trees outside the window, or the dark shadows of other people or things before falling asleep, his imagination starts running wild and he scares himself. So he goes to bed with this fear, which will inevitably lead to nightmares.

Projection reflects light source: Therefore, parents can take their babies outdoors or around the windows in broad daylight to let their children know that there are actually no ghosts or scary people or things, but simply plants and other objects that appear the same because of the light source and projection.

Learning to sleep alone: ​​When children first leave their parents and sleep alone in their room, they will always have nightmares due to fear of loneliness. Parents should explain to their babies the advantages of sleeping alone and encourage them to learn to rest and fall asleep independently.

Keep whispering softly: At first, you can leave the door slightly open before the child falls asleep, so that the baby can hear some talking outside and feel that there is someone by his side. This way the baby can fall asleep peacefully and will get used to it over time.

Age group for nightmares: It is not yet certain whether infants and young children under the age of two will have nightmares, but it is certain that nightmares are more common in preschool children around four years old.

What to do if your baby has a nightmare

Soothe emotions and accompany the baby: If the baby happens to have a bad dream, parents should be able to be by the baby's side in time. Since most people are half asleep and half awake when dreaming, just pat the child gently to make him know that his parents are always by his side when he needs them, and the child will fall asleep again soon.

Do not blame or tease: If your child wakes up from a nightmare, do not blame or tease him/her. Instead, say more comforting words to let the child know that dreams are not real life and there is nothing to be scared of.

Drinking warm milk helps with sleep: Parents can make milk for their children to drink, because warm milk can help children fall asleep; after drinking the milk, remember to pat the baby's back, which can help speed up digestion and make the child feel at ease and fall asleep as soon as possible.

Avoiding bedtime: If your child keeps having nightmares and is very afraid of going to bed, you may need to take your baby to the hospital and ask the doctor for detailed consultation and treatment, because this kind of night fear may be a precursor to some emotional problem or psychological disorder.

How to prevent your baby from having nightmares

Don’t play too crazy: During the day, don’t let your child play too crazy or keep his emotions in an excited state, otherwise the baby will have difficulty falling asleep at night.

Don’t put too much pressure on children: When children feel too much pressure and don’t know how to adjust and vent, they will easily dream at night. They will express the state of pressure through dreams.

No contact with monsters: Don’t let children come into contact with too many strange or supernatural stories. Of course, children should also be prohibited from watching bloody and violent scenes, otherwise it will not only easily cause nightmares but also affect the psychological development of children.