Know the Differences Between Nightmares and Night Terrors

There are many differences between nightmares and night terrors. If your child is experiencing either one of these it is important for you to understand which one so that you can help your child overcome.

Nightmares are bad dreams that a child will have for many reasons. If they have had a bad experience or a big event has taken place in their lives, it can make them have night mares. If the child watches a scary movie or plays a scary video game this can also make them have night mares. For some children the cause is just their over active imagination.

When a child has a nightmare, they will usually wake up very frightened and scared and in most cases call out for a parent or just go to their parent. The child needs to be comforted and reassured that everything is ok and it was just a dream. You can check out my other article to see just how to handle nightmares and what you can do to help your child overcome having the nightmares.

Night terrors are much different than nightmares and most children will not even remember the episode the next day. When a child has a night terror they will usually scream out in fear but will not fully wake up. They may begin to kick, punch, yell and even sleep walk during a night terror. It is important to make sure the child is safe and not try to wake them completely up when having an episode with night terrors.

Night terror can be brought on by being over tired and not getting enough sleep or even having anxiety about something before going to sleep. A night terror can be a very scary experience for the child but sometimes it is worse on the parent due to the fact that you child is in a sense 'out of it'. In another article of mine I have given you information on what you can do for your child who suffers from night terrors and how to help them possibly stop having them all together.