Sleep Problems in Children
Children today are exposed to so much more through TV coverage that they can and
do experience very real fears for themselves or for family members. Some
children express their fears overtly while others disguise them and they may
manifest in sleep problems or delaying tactics around bedtime or pleas to sleep
in the parents' bed or indeed attempts to come into the parental bedroom after
the parents themselves are asleep.
Most children experience nightmares at
some time i.e. bad and frightening dreams. The child wakes and usually remembers
the dream content quite vividly. He is lucid when he wakes and can usually be
reassured, comforted and settled back into sleep.
Night terrors usually
have their origin in the pre-school years. The child wakes from deep sleep,
appears terrified, confused and disorientated and seems not to recognise you. He
may appear to be hallucinating i.e. talking to people who are not there. He is
sweating, breathing rapidly, has a rapid heart rate, his pupils are dilated. The
disturbance may last up to 15 minutes but eventually subsides. The child then
goes back to sleep and usually has no recollection of the event. Night terrors
are usually self-limiting and tend to occur in the 4-12 age
group.
Nightmares and night terrors are sometimes accompanied by sleep
walking when a child may be at risk of injury and so appropriate precautions
need to be taken.
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