Helping Your Child Through the Night

You've gotten through 2 a.m. feedings, diaper rash, ear infections and teething, and you thought that - finally - you could sleep through the night without any more distractions.

Unfortunately, though, young children are prone to a variety of sleep disorders that can separate them - and you - from a good night's sleep. Here are a few:

Nightmares

Childhood is a scary time, when reality and fantasy merge together and aren't so easy for a child to separate. Frightening TV images can easily be interpreted as real, and can return as nightmarish monsters in your child's sleep.

Stress, illness and some medications can also cause nightmares, as can emotional events like death, divorce or the birth of a sibling. One out of every four children has nightmares more than once a week.

How parents can help:

• Monitor what your child watches on TV.
• Read a bedtime story.
• Play quiet music as your child falls asleep.
• Provide a nightlight or leave the bedroom door open.
• Let your child sleep with a favorite stuffed toy or blanket.
• Do the same bedtime routine. Make sure bedtime and wakeup times are the same each day.
• Talk with your child about the nightmares. Keep a journal.
• If nightmares become frequent, talk to your doctor, who may prescribe medicine to help your child sleep.

Night terrors

During a night terror, a child in a sound sleep may suddenly sit or stand in bed and scream. The pupils dilate, and he or she may sweat and may kick, hit, punch or wave at an imagined object. The child may stare at the parents but cannot respond.

Night terrors can be triggered by illness, medications or increased stress. Scary television shows or irregular sleep schedules can also be factors. Night terrors usually affect children between ages 2 and 6.

How parents can help:

• Prevent your child from getting injured and wait it out until your child falls asleep.
• Keep a sleep diary of events that happened that day, meals and snacks eaten, television shows watched, and anything else of significance.
• If night terrors happen regularly, try fully awakening your child about 15 minutes before the night terror commonly occurs. Then let your child fall sleep after five minutes.
• If the problem persists, see a pediatric neurologist or consult a sleep study center.

Sleepwalking

About 18 percent of children in the United States sleepwalk. Sleepwalking occurs during a deep sleep state. The child looks to be awake, but appears dazed and confused. Sometimes nonsensical speech occurs.

Sleepwalking is commonly caused by maturation of the body's nervous system or by stress. Children usually outgrow sleepwalking by 13.

How parents can help:

• Keep a sleep diary to pinpoint stressors that may be causing sleepwalking.
• Put up gates at stairways. Don't allow your child to sleep in a top bunk bed. Put bells or other mechanisms on doors to alert you if your child tries to leave the house.
• Gently guide the child back to bed. Do not yell at or shake your child.
• If sleepwalking occurs every night or more than once a night, talk to your pediatrician.

Related Articles Sleep Disorders Night Terrors Good News About Bedwetting Is There Trouble In Dreamland for Children?

External Sources American Academy of Family Physicians American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry

This article was reviewed and updated June 2007.

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