You just want the 'flame' to flicker," Sosland advises.
Have them breathe in for five seconds and slowly breath out as if you have a birthday candle in front of you. Teach older children deep belly breathing. For example, have a younger child blow bubbles to calm down. If your child already struggles with anxiety, teach him coping mechanisms during the day that you can employ at night too. “Avoid bright or blue lights which stimulate the brain to produce cortisol, a wake-up hormone." "Salt lamps are a great example of a soothing hue," James says. Gradually move toward the soft, warm glow of a lamp, then a closet light, and finally a night light that is yellow or orange in color. If your kiddo can only fall asleep if her ceiling light is on, relax. If they imagine a monster in the closet, in their mind it must be there. They imagine all sorts of things in the dark that aren't there," Sosland says. Young children often can't distinguish between fantasy and reality. They can also make kids feel unsafe.īut alarming images aren't the only source of terror. "Kids are quite imaginative. "These almost live events can cause feelings of hopelessness and helplessness," the researchers write. According to a 2016 study published in Frontiers in Pediatrics, exposure to repeated images of terrorism in the media can negatively affect a child's emotional health. Limit exposure to violent images and turn off the news when your youngster is around.
Pair those visuals with nighttime creaks of the house or a strange shadow on the wall, and you've got a wide-eyed kid at midnight.
As kids wind down after a busy day and the quiet of the night sets in, they may begin to replay scary images in their heads that they saw in books, movies, video games or on the news. "Just by hearing what kids are saying, helps them feel heard and validated, which can help eliminate irrational fears," explains Berkley James, a pediatric sleep consultant.īe Aware of frightening images. Nighttime fear might be caused by a fairy tale before bed or even a stressful event during the school day. Other times, the fear won't make much sense at all. Listen carefully to your child, without playing into their fears, to see if you can identify a trigger. So, how can parents best support a frightened kiddo?ĭiscuss the fear. Without a good night's sleep, children can suffer behavior and mood issues and have trouble concentrating at school. Jane Sosland, a clinical child and adolescent psychologist, nearly 30 percent of children have sleep problems and oftentimes, bedtime battles can last well past midnight. Avoid ideas like "monster spray" which only affirm in a child's mind that monsters are real and need to be "sprayed away." - Berkley James, pediatric sleep consultantįear of the dark is a normal part of development and one of the most common childhood problems plaguing families of school-age children.