The child wakes up at night with a tantrum (night tantrums in a child)

Every parent knows that not only the baby’s health, but also the process of normal development, both mentally and physiologically, depends on the quality of children’s sleep. All pediatricians recommend following a daily routine and playing calmer games with children in the evening for a better sleep. Therefore, when a child wakes up at night with hysterics, it is not only stress for the child’s body, but also a cause for parental concern.

Childhood parasomnia

It happens that a child wakes up (or does not wake up) in the middle of the night, screams, cries and breaks away from the hands of concerned parents. This state can last from a couple of minutes to half an hour. The fact is that before the sleep phases are fully formed, they can overlap one another or come at the “wrong time”. As a result, the child may wake up in the middle of the night, sob and scream bitterly, or continue to sleep, but at the same time walk or simply move, talk or cry. The manifestation of activity during deep sleep is called parasomnia (para - disturbance, somnius - sleep). This is not at all a dangerous disruption of the body, but evidence of the immaturity of the nervous system and brain. With age, the overlap of sleep phases occurs less and less often and completely disappears by adolescence. It is important to understand that parasomnia in most cases does not cause any harm to the baby; rather, it adds anxiety to parents. Adults are especially wary of children's nighttime tantrums. What to do if your baby has a panic attack that cannot be predicted and stopped? To begin with, figure out what’s going on.

Symptoms accompanying nightmares in children

Parents need to know the symptoms accompanying the phenomenon in order to understand what actions should be taken.

Typical signs:

the development of an undesirable condition occurs a couple of hours after the baby falls asleep, most often after midnight and before three o’clock in the morning;
such a manifestation tends to be repeated up to several times in one night;
duration does not exceed 20 minutes;
awakening comes abruptly, the child’s eyes are wide open, and his gaze is unseeing;
at this time he experiences shortness of breath, wheezing, and the sweat glands begin to work intensively;
the baby, in fact, does not recognize his relatives or does not notice them at all;
sometimes there is aggressiveness in actions, and it is impossible to calm the baby down.

The main task of parents is to find a way to calm their child and dispel his fears.

You should contact a psychologist in cases where the “attack” lasts more than half an hour, this does not happen late at night, but in the morning, hysterics can recur during the day, and during an unconscious rampage, the child’s speech is disrupted. A constant increase in clinical symptoms is also an alarming sign; some children experience urinary incontinence.

Attention! Particularly dangerous signs are choking, stuttering, nervous twitching, tongue falling out of the mouth, loss of consciousness. This condition must be urgently diagnosed for treatment.

Sleep disturbance

Children's nighttime tantrums have nothing to do with dreams (at least, this is what a number of researchers think). They appear as a result of the superposition of one phase of sleep on another, which leads to severe fear, to a real panic attack. Parents are no less frightened, because at this moment the child screams, talks or cries loudly, his eyes are wide open, but look as if through the world around him. The baby's heart rate increases, sweat breaks out on the forehead, and breathing becomes hoarse and heavy. The child does not respond to the parents’ kind words and desperately resists the desire to take him in his arms. And although, due to open eyes, many parents believe that the baby has woken up, in fact, he continues to be in the deep sleep phase. Why, in this case, do scientists separate nighttime hysterics from nightmares? There are several reasons:

Any dreams, including nightmares, occur to a person during the “rapid” phase of sleep, when one can see the eyes moving under closed eyelids. The body is in a state of deep rest, but the brain continues to work actively, acting in exactly the same way as in waking mode. Sleep at this time is very sensitive, and the child will wake up from a nightmare, but will quickly forget the bad things, and the affectionate hugs and voice of his parents will calm him down. Awakening can occur at any moment of the night.
Night tantrums usually begin at the beginning of the sleep cycle (in the so-called deep phase), when the child cannot see any dreams. But the baby experiences a strong feeling of fear: the brain tries to wake up, but the body continues to sleep. As a result, the child screams and cries, and no amount of gentle persuasion and hugs will help.
After waking up, the child will not remember his nightly hysteria, but he may remember a bad dream.

Night tantrums can begin at 1 year of age and last up to 5–7 years, but then they gradually fade away. The child may still have the habit of talking in his sleep, but this also does not cause any harm. Therefore, even if your baby has a nighttime tantrum, don’t be nervous. Yes, this is extremely stressful for parents, because they cannot do anything to help their baby. However, you need to understand that attempts to “pull” a child out of such a dream can be much more harmful than this unpleasant, but still not pathological condition. Less commonly, parasomnia can occur in infants.

Advice from pediatricians

If your child is 3 years old and has a tantrum at night, you need to minimize the influence of irritating factors. You can do the following:

take the baby in your arms: if he struggles so hard that you cannot tear him away from the bed, pat the baby on the head;
talk to your crying son, tell the baby that he is just having a bad dream;
soak a piece of cotton cloth in water and wipe your forehead, cheeks, and chest with it;
if the baby wakes up and wants to drink, give him a glass of cool water;
Place your favorite soft toy nearby.

Pediatricians remind what a parent should not do when the baby wakes up from convulsive sobs:

turn on the light in the room;
yell at the baby;
spank a crying child on the hands or cheeks.

When morning comes, ask your baby what scared and upset him at night.

What to do when a child has a night tantrum

If a child begins to scream at night, experiencing panic attacks, it is necessary to first consult a specialist to rule out neurological causes of the condition. If the doctor does not reveal any pathologies, during attacks of night hysteria you will need to act as follows:

do not try to wake the child, this will only increase his anxiety;
do not take the child out of bed and do not pick him up;
sit next to you, talk quietly to your baby or hum a lullaby;
Make sure that the child does not damage his arms or legs if he moves restlessly in his sleep.

After your child wakes up, you should not ask him leading questions. If you want to talk about his condition, it is better to ask what the child dreamed about and how he feels.

When to see a doctor

The presence of aggressive behavior accompanied by nightly tantrums is a reason to consult a doctor

Parents should know what situations indicate the need for mandatory consultation with a doctor, in particular a neurologist:

hysteria in a child at night occurs very often, every other day or even every day;
Over the course of one night, the toddler bursts into sobs several times;
the child began to complain of pain in the head;
during the waking period, the toddler behaves aggressively, can fight or break his toys;
The child has problems concentrating.

Prevention of night tantrums

The best prevention of parasomnia is:

control over the daily routine. You should not “over-walk” or lack sleep; you should avoid stressful situations or overexcitement;
control over sleep patterns. If your child has frequent tantrums, keep track of when the panic begins and ends. The next night, carefully wake up your baby 20–30 minutes before the expected onset of the tantrum: this will help “reset” sleep and slow down the rhythm of parasomnia. It is recommended to carry out such prevention for one and a half to two weeks, and then monitor the child’s further condition;
ensuring a calm environment. If the baby has an easily excitable nervous system, it is recommended to put him to bed early, avoid large and noisy companies, and long trips.

The bed of a child suffering from attacks of night hysterics must be completely safe: the baby should not be injured, because in his sleep he can swing his arms and legs sharply. If it is a crib with bars, you can protect the child with soft pads on the sides.

Treatment with home remedies

If a child is hysterical, the doctor should prescribe medications only after determining the cause. You should not choose medications on your own, as they can complicate the situation.

There are several home ways to improve your baby's sleep and relieve him of nightmares:

Aromatherapy. Before going to bed, the child should be bathed in warm water with a few drops of lavender essential oil. This technique has long been used for sound sleep. It is also recommended to drop some oil on the corner of a pillow or blanket.
Sleepy tea. You can buy it at the pharmacy or make it yourself. To do this, brew 1 tablespoon of hop cones in a glass of boiling water and infuse. Before going to bed, the baby should drink a third part.
Sleepy cocktail. It is especially popular with those with a sweet tooth. Small banana slices are mixed with 0.5 tbsp. milk and chamomile tea in equal proportions. Add two drops of motherwort and a spoonful of honey.

To forget about nighttime tantrums forever, experts recommend making the environment in the children's room as cozy and soothing as possible, with excellent sound insulation and an optimal climate, then the child will sleep normally. Regularly ventilate the room in any weather and carry out wet cleaning there.

Author: Ekaterina Dremova, especially for Mama66

Causes of night tantrums

First of all, experts identify a genetic cause. Parasomnias most often affect those children who have a tendency towards it. If grandparents were sleepwalkers, and restless sleep is also observed in other family members, there is a very high chance that the child will begin to experience attacks of night hysterics before the age of one year. Of course, there are other reasons:

High emotionality. Impressionable kids are more at risk of tantrums.
Overexcitability during the day. If a child has had many new experiences (both positive and negative), then his nervous system is in an excited state, which has a bad effect on the quality of sleep.
Stress. Tantrums can occur in children who find themselves in a new environment for the first time, for example, after visiting kindergarten for the first time. The same reaction can occur to long-distance moves, separation of parents, or another stressful factor.
Diseases of the nervous system. They should be excluded first by visiting a specialist.

Think about your child's future

When a 4-year-old child throws tantrums, it is not always easy for parents to remain calm. Most adults tend to feel like a bad mother or father at such moments. Despite all the rules and peculiarities of raising children, you must rely on your intuition. And if at the moment you think that the application of the rule “the parent should be in charge” is inappropriate, then do not follow it. But remember that there is no need to abuse such weaknesses.

Sometimes you can talk to your child for 15 minutes when he won't let you go. But only if such hysterics do not occur regularly after the next conversation. Try not to tense up inside yourself.

Reacting to the tantrums of 3-4 year old children is like putting out a fire that has already broken out. The art of parents is not to fight the whims of the child, but to prevent such situations from arising in the future.

Daytime nap

Why do children throw tantrums before naptime? Daytime rest doesn't seem to cause as many problems as nighttime rest. But this happens.

Children must rest, otherwise the second half of the day will pass with pampering and whims. Mom can get things done during this time.

Children gradually grow out of daytime sleep. This can happen at any age. There's nothing you can do about it. Daytime sleep is compensated by increasing the duration of nighttime sleep. If you don’t get up early in the morning to go to the garden, that will suit everyone.

If you want to maintain daytime rest, you need to reconsider the regime:

You need to get your child up earlier in the morning. Then by lunchtime the child will definitely want to sleep.
It is recommended to take a long and active walk in the fresh air before lunch. Lunch break should not be later than 13:00. Otherwise, overexcitation may occur and the baby will not rest. Laying should not be delayed; leave all manipulations overnight. You should just put the child down and leave.

There should be no fears in daytime sleep, since there is no darkness. But if the baby is tormented by fears even during daytime sleep, then you should consult a neurologist. Daytime naps are shorter, so your baby may boycott them. But it is necessary for both parents and children.

Tags:Hysteria

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2 comments

Veronica The bedroom and bed should not become a kind of punishment place for a child. Our girl’s bedroom is the area where her favorite toys rest. The girl arranges her sleeping toys herself and sleeps with them.
Answer
Marina At the age of 3, when my son was replaced, he began to throw tantrums day and night, apparently the same crisis covered 3 years. Vitamins “Baby Formula Bear Calmness” from Evalar, which in addition to vitamins glycine, mint and lemon balm, helped him improve his sleep and calm down, and he generally thought it was candy and ate it with pleasure.
Answer