To ensure a normal and healthy sleep for a child, several rules should be followed:
1. Stay calm. The nightmare and seizure are not the same, there is nothing terrible in the nightmare. As a rule, terrible dreams are dreamed for almost all children at the age of 3-5 years.
2. It happens that a child in a sleepy state runs around the room and waving his arms. In such a situation, you must ensure that he does not injure himself. Wait until the nightmare is over, and make sure the child is safe.
3. Do not tell the child about a nightmare in the morning. If the family has more children, then they should not talk about what happened. The child will be upset if he realizes that he has lost control of himself.
4. You can track the course of sleep in the child and identify the time of terrible dreams. In this situation, it is better to wake the child half an hour before a possible terrible sleep, thereby violating the sleep cycle and interrupting the steady course of nightmares.
In addition, there are general recommendations:
1. You can increase the duration of sleep. A small child can sleep during the day. Most often, nightmares in children happen when the child ceases to rest during the day. The kid, who has not slept for more than 12 hours in a row, plunges into a deep sleep and more often sees nightmares in a dream. Older children can be put to bed early in the evening or give them a good sleep in the morning. It is more difficult for tired children to switch from a deep sleep to an easy one.
2. If the child does not worry, nothing disturbs him, then his dream is normal. Ask your child before going to bed, do not worry if anything. Shy and timid children before bedtime are usually worried and do not sleep well. Before going to sleep, the child should experience positive emotions, remembering the pleasant moments and all the good things that happened during the day. The task of parents is to give the child a sense of security and security.
3. Do not overdo the care of the child during nightmares. If the child realizes that at these moments he is being bothered about and given special attention to, he can later wake up unconsciously, so that his parents come to calm him. Thus, the problem will only become stronger and stronger. Do not wake the child, give him food and drink.
4. If a child comes running to you at night and tells a terrible dream, listen to him carefully. Try to stay with him for a while, go to his room, turn on the light. Make sure together that nothing terrible happens.
5. Sometimes you can let a child stay in your room overnight, but this should be an exception to the rule. The next night the child must go to bed in his bed.
6. The child should have something that performs the function of "protector" from terrible dreams and nightmares - a flashlight, a soft toy. This item will be a calming remedy for the child, it will help the baby to control bad dreams and less to fear them.
7. Talking with the child before going to bed will help him get rid of a lot of stresses, including those caused by films or television programs in which violence occurs. You can also talk with your child about what happened during the day.
8. Read your child a nice book for the night, sing a song, give him a toy. The most important thing is for a child to go to sleep peacefully, so the procedure for going to bed should be pleasant and soothing.