Many children, experience nightmares and night terrors but most will grow out of them. An important thing to note is they do not cause any long-term psychological harm to children.
Nightmares Are most common in children aged 3-6 years. Most children will grow out of them. They often occur later in the night and cause strong feelings of terror, fear, distress or anxiety.
A child may wake and be able to remember and describe the dream. Nightmares are usually caused by a frightening experience, such as watching a scary film, or by something that’s worrying them.
Night terrors are common in children between the ages of 3-8 years and are more common in children whose family have a history of night terrors or sleepwalking behaviours.
During an episode a child’s eyes will be open but they will not be fully awake, the episode will usually occur in the early part of the night, continue for several minutes and occasionally more than once in the night.
They can be triggered by anything that increases how much deep sleep a child has, such as tiredness, fever or certain types of medication. Other triggers can be things that make a child more likely to wake from deep sleep such as excitement, anxiety, sudden noise or a full bladder.