Night terrors and nightmares come in the form of frightening dreams and could scare both children and parents especially if it is recurring. Usually taking place during REM or Rapid Eye Movement in the phase of sleep, nightmares could vary in length or intensity, a nightmare is usually remembered by a child. While night terrors happen after an hour or two when the child has gone to sleep ad could last for a few minutes to an hour. Night terrors takes place during the non-REM phase of sleep where the thoughts are widely awake and the eyes could be wide open; still the child is asleep at this point. As opposed to nightmares, the child will have no memory whatsoever of any night terrors.
When your child is experiencing night mare and night terrors, you want to take them away from this horrible experience. There are certain things that you could do before your child goes to sleep and after he awakens to makes sure they calm down and is comforted. You should always ensure a calm, quiet and relaxed environment before bedtime. Talk to your babies before they go to sleep, sing a lullaby for them, or tell them a story, babies find the voice of their parents very soothing and relaxing. This will not only put them to sleep better but will help them when they wake up. Parents should remain calm because a baby senses panic from their parents as well. You will have a difficult time in settling you baby down if you are tensed. Another thing is that you should always make sure that you can hear your baby cry during the night. It is important to get to your baby as soon as possible to assure and comfort them when they cry. Do not wake them up if they are crying on their sleep, just stay with them till they get back to sleep peacefully or you may wait for them to be fully awake. It is also not a good idea to let them sleep with you after a nightmare. This will give them an implied sense that they should be afraid or their own bed and if it becomes a habit, it will be very difficult to tear it out from them.
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