A monster is following him. The boy runs and runs, but the monster closes in. The youngster can feel his pursuer's breath. Panic overcomes him. He screams, opens his eyes and sees the walls of his bedroom.
It was a nightmare, which experts say is normal for children to experience. But when they occur often or when they cause the child to fear going to sleep, parents should seek help.
"Children have more nightmares than adults," says Dieter Kunz, director of the working group for sleep disorders at Charite hospital in Berlin. The frequency decreases after puberty.
One reason children experience more bad dreams is because their brains are still maturing. Some parts of the brain are further developed than others and the result is an imbalance.
Genetic factors also play a role, according to the German Sleep Society, also in Berlin.
Four percent of 9-year-olds who participated in a survey conducted at the children's hospital in Cologne-Porz admitted to having frequent nightmares while 40 percent had them occasionally.
Every other child was followed in their nightmares by another person, an animal or a fantasy figure and 20 percent experienced fear of a loved one in the dream, says Alfred Wiater, head doctor at the hospital.
The dreams were influenced by whatever the children experienced or thought about during the day.
"But it is badly jumbled," says Kunz. "It is not possible to find a meaning to the dream."
If the child appears in his parents' bedroom after having a nightmare, usually words of comfort are enough to help the child get over his fear.
A conversation about the dream can be postponed until the next day because "if the child is afraid, he can't get back to sleep," says Michael Schredl of the central institute for mental health in Mannheim.
Children can perceive a threat from the play of light and shadow on their bedroom walls and ceiling and this can result in a nightmare.
A streetlight that shines through curtains creating an odd-shaped beam of light that occasionally moves is enough to make a ghost.
Generally, a child's bedroom should be as dark as possible because light encourages people to wake up, says Kunz. But this can be tricky because some children are afraid of the dark. In that case parents can leave the door ajar or turn on a small light.
As a rule children can remember their nightmares and parents should let them explain the dreams, though parents often do not understand them.
"Obviously, children don't explain their nightmares in the dimensions in which they occurred," says Wiater. Parents should seek help if the nightmares continue over a long period of time.
"If a child has a nightmare three times a week for three weeks, you must further question it," says Wiater.
Otherwise, a cycle can develop in which the child is afraid to fall asleep because of fear of nightmares, Schredl says.
Children have more nightmarers than adults. (photo: China Daily)
(Agencies via China Daily December 14, 2007)
