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Child sleep: Put preschool bedtime problems to rest
The problem: Bedtime is chaotic
The problem: Your child won't stay in his or her bed
The problem: Your child wakes up during the night
Content
The problem: Bedtime is chaos
The problem: Your child doesn't want to go to bed
The problem: Your child stays up too late
The problem: Your child won't fall asleep alone
The problem: Your child won't stay in bed
The problem: Your child has a bad dream
The problem: You're frustrated with your child's bedtime problems
The problem: Your child won't stay in his or her bed
The problem: Your child wakes up during the night
Content
The problem: Bedtime is chaos
The problem: Your child doesn't want to go to bed
The problem: Your child stays up too late
The problem: Your child won't fall asleep alone
The problem: Your child won't stay in bed
The problem: Your child has a bad dream
The problem: You're frustrated with your child's bedtime problems
The problem: Your child has a bad dream
The scenario: Your child has a nightmare and cries or gets upset.
The solution: Go to your child as quickly as you can and provide comfort:
- Say that everything is OK.
- Talk about the dream. Let the child know that dreams aren't real.
- Let your child keep a light on if it lessens fear.
- Try to lull your child back to sleep when the child is ready.
Nightmares are more common in school-age children, who are about 6 to 12 years old. But children who are younger than 6 also can have sleep terrors. These aren't the same as nightmares.
With sleep terrors, a sleeping child suddenly gets scared or panicked. The child might scream or sit upright in bed. Some children even jump out of bed. But most of the time, the child won't fully wake up or remember what was scary the next day.
If your child has sleep terrors, research suggests that you shouldn't try to wake your child up. Doing so could confuse or scare your little one even more.
