What causes children to have nightmares?

Both adults and children can have nightmares. In comparison, if an adult has a nightmare, the impact will not be particularly great, because adults have a correct understanding of nightmares and can adjust their emotions. But if a child has a very scary nightmare, the harm may be greater, such as affecting the child's psychology. So what is the reason for children to have nightmares?

What causes children to have nightmares?

1. Psychological factors

Excessive tension and excitement before going to bed, such as the first time a child sleeps in an unfamiliar environment away from his parents, various inner conflicts and anxiety can all induce this syndrome. Listening to horror stories or watching horror movies before going to bed is also one of the triggers.

2. Eating spicy food

A study showed that compared with the sleep quality of two groups of subjects, one group ate spicy food before going to bed late and the other group did not eat spicy food. The subjects woke up more often and had worse sleep quality when they ate spicy food. This suggests that spicy foods can raise body temperature and disrupt sleep.

3. Fat content of food

Some studies have found that the more high-fat foods you eat during the day, the worse your sleep quality. Foods high in fat may have a negative impact on dreams and make people more likely to have nightmares.

The difference between nightmares and sleep terrors

Night terrors often occur in the first half of the night, when you are half asleep and half awake, or in the deep sleep stage without rapid eye movement. A child who has night terrors may appear confused and difficult to wake up and calm down, but he will soon fall back to sleep and wake up the next day with little or no memory of the previous night's events, or even no idea what happened the night before.

Nightmares mostly occur in the second half of the night, when people are basically in the rapid eye movement sleep stage. Children who have nightmares may be frightened and cry because of the scenes in their dreams, but they generally do not become mentally confused and their parents can comfort them. However, the child may be reluctant to go back to sleep because of fear, and may vividly remember the nightmare scene the next day.

What to do if your child has a nightmare

1. Take appropriate measures to make children feel safe when sleeping

Use appropriate methods to help your child feel emotionally secure at night. If a child fears going to sleep because of the possibility of a nightmare, the result can be insomnia, which is neither physically nor emotionally beneficial. To prevent this from happening, leave the bedroom door ajar, keep the lights on, or turn the radio on low to give your child a greater sense of security. If your child wakes up from a nightmare and feels particularly upset, just let him sleep with you that night.

2. Create a safe and happy living environment for children

Children's nightmares often come from troublesome problems or events in their daily lives. Children who often have nightmares need care. We should avoid educating children through intimidation. A naughty and active child does not need to be disciplined by demons. Then work with your child to drive the nightmare out of the dream, tell your child that the monsters in the dream can be driven out by drawing, and then encourage your child to put the monsters into a small paper bag, symbolizing catching the monster. Find a day when the children are in a good mood, have them burn the small paper bag and then bury it so that the drawn monster disappears forever.