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screams shatter the
night
. a mother jolts out of bed and runs to her son?s bedroom. he is sitting up, crying, and rocking back and forth. clueless as to what?s going on, she turns on the light and tries to wake him up. he looks at her with his big brown eyes and cries harder. she tries to hold him and calm him down, but he pushes against her and screams again. she keeps telling him it will be okay and that she?s here. for five minutes that drag on for what seems like hours, he cries out into the
night
. finally, he lays down, whimpering, and then quiets back to
sleep
. his mother watches him in shock and eventually, relief. she wonders what just happened to her baby. he?s only two years old. is he having
night
mares already? she returns to bed, on edge, concerned for her little man.
night
terrors
change everything for a family. a child?s
sleep
is no longer a time of peace for parents but instead a time of anxiety. ?e parents fearfully expect those screams two to three hours after
sleep
starts.
night
terrors
can cause sheer panic for a mom or dad who is unfamiliar with the disorder, but fortunately the child does not remember the episode. in order to prevent and manage the disorder, it is critical for parents to to understand the clear definition, causes, management, and best prevention methods. what is a
night
terror? local pediatric
sleep
consultant and mother of four, katie dallimore, defines a
night
terror as an extreme physical re- sponse that occurs in the first few hours of
sleep
between the first and second
sleep
cycle in which children may cry, scream, thrash, or move violently.
night
terrors
are a part of the ?same parasom- nia family as
sleep
walking,
sleep
-talk- ing, and
sleep
paralysis.? ?ey are not the same as
night
mares. according to dallimore, ?
night
terrors
are physiologi- cal, not mental, and they occur when a child is not dreaming.
night
mares occur in the second half of
sleep
, during the rem cycle.? although their eyes are open, and they are being verbal, it is im- portant to note that children are a
sleep
during the terror. causes ?e most common trigger of
night
ter- rors is
sleep
deprivation. ?when a child is overtired, he or she crashes in a deep
sleep
. it is when they are coming out of that deep
sleep
and cannot transition into rem
sleep
that they experience the
night
terror,? dallimore explains. children benefit from consistent
sleep
schedules, and when those are interrupt- ed,
night
time chaos can be the result. when youngsters miss their naps or go to bed at erratic times,
night
terrors
be- come a greater possibility. ?ough
sleep
deprivation is the most common cause, it is not the only one. other causes can be divorce in the fam- ily, arrival of a new sibling, family loss or grief, or another type of trauma. fright
night
s: everything you need to know about
night
terrors
by joy holden 54 brparents.com | october 2016
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