At first, we thought it's due to he has high activity during the day, he played too much or he was frightened when we bring him out to busy shopping areas or he has stomach wind.
So many guesses and we have do not know what exactly happen. Ah Ma will use her "own way" of treating you like you are being frightened. Daddy and Mummy will feed you the pearl powder as a form of treating you being frightened.
Then lately we noticed he is crying non stop for as long as 20-30mins. He started crying suddenly in the middle of the night and refused to calm down.
He refused to let us carry and touch him. He will just kick and kick, cry loudly and scream fiercely.
Last night it happened again. This time, we brought you to our room to pacify and coax you to sleep. Did not work at all, so send you back to your own room. You stop crying finally, drank milk and watch TV til you sleep.
So we think it'll happen tonight...what shall we do then ?
Mummy google to know more about NightMares and Night Terror in order to better understand them and handle them for you.
Nightmares
Nightmares are frightening dreams which wake children up and leave them feeling upset and scared that something awful has happened or is going to happen.
Nightmares happen during 'dreaming' sleep, and most dreaming sleep happens towards the end of the night, so children usually wake with nightmares in the second half of the night.
On waking from a nightmare, a child will know that you are there, and usually be able to tell you what has frightened him if he is old enough to be able to put it into words.
What causes nightmares?
- Nightmares may be linked with things that have happened during the day, especially things which are worrying, such as starting school, getting lost, being bullied, being barked at by a dog, having something happen to the family (such as illness or family fights) or something bad happening in the world (something seen on TV for example).
- Dreams and nightmares seem to be ways for people to deal with their worries and work out ways of managing.
- As children gain confidence in dealing with the problems of growing up, nightmares tend to become fewer, but something bad, like a burglary, can bring them back for a while.
- Nightmares happen more often when children are unwell, especially if they have a fever. Some medicines can cause nightmares, while nightmares can sometimes start when other medicines are stopped.
- Nightmares also tend to happen more often if children are not getting enough sleep.
Night terrors
Night terrors happen less often than nightmares, and can sometimes seem like nightmares, but they are different in several ways. Up to 3% of children experience night terrors at some time.
Night terrors do not happen during dreams. With night terrors, children are unable to remember any bad dream or to tell their parents what is frightening them, and in the morning they will not remember that anything has happened.
Night terrors usually happen in the early part of the night, often about 1 to 2 hours after the child has gone to sleep.
It seems that a child almost wakes up, but does not completely wake (a 'partial wakening'). After a nightmare, children fully wake up and cry until you come to them.
During an episode of night terrors, children can cry, shout or sometimes scream, but do not know that you are there.
A child may be sitting in bed or be out of bed, with eyes wide open, calling for you, but she does not 'see' you and may push you away if you try to comfort her.
She is likely to have a rapid heart rate, be breathing fast, and be sweaty, crying, shouting, or even screaming or groaning.
She may continue to cry or shout for a few minutes, sometimes up to 20 minutes, and rarely, for an hour or longer.
Then, quite suddenly she will relax, maybe look around briefly and go quickly back to sleep.
These awakenings often happen for several days in a row, sometimes longer, and then go away for a while. They may come back when the child is unwell, overtired or stressed.
What causes night terrors?
- The cause of night terrors is not known, but having night terrors runs in families (it seems to be inherited). Usually there are other people in the family who have had night terrors, or sleepwalking or sleep talking.
- Night terrors usually start happening when a child is around 4 to 7 years old (sometimes younger) and may happen off and on until the child reaches puberty. It is unusual for them to happen in older teenagers or adults.
- Night terrors seem to happen more often when there is a stressful event such as starting school, but often there is no obvious stress in the child's life.
- Sometimes they occur on nights when a child is unwell.
They often seem to happen when a child is not getting enough sleep. - Some people have linked night terrors to developmental stages in children's lives, such as toilet training, but many others do not think these are linked.
- Having night terrors is not linked to having psychological problems later in life. They seem to be a temporary 'phase' which children grow out of.
No comments:
Post a Comment