Do you suffer daily with your child at his bedtime because of his intense fear and unjustified panic? From your point of view, it may be unjustified, so you get excited about it, which worsens your condition together, but the fear of children at bedtime is very common, and you must know how to deal with it in a proper way in order to rid your child of this condition, learn about the reasons and Treating fear in children when sleeping in correct ways.

Reasons for children’s fear when sleeping

It is normal for your child to be afraid of the dark or the presence of monstrous creatures that may appear to him at night, but this may continue with him and affect the quality of his sleep and his activities during the day, and there are several reasons behind your child’s feeling of this fear and are related to common sleep disorders such as Nightmares in childrenAlso, children who have a wide imagination are more likely to be afraid before going to sleep because they believe that there are other monstrous creatures that live in his room and will appear to him during the night. These beliefs may be caused by reading stories or watching scary movies during the day.

Treating fear in children when sleeping

There are several effective ways that will help your child overcome this fear, but first you must believe that your child is not spoiled and that he has his reasons for this fear. Learn about these methods as follows:

Understand the child’s fear

The first thing you should do is give your child the opportunity to explain to you what exactly he is afraid of and why he feels afraid of these things, but you should know that children are different by nature. Be patient and never make fun of him or how he feels.

Reassure your child that he is safe

You should not support your child’s fears and magnify them with his eyes, but you must assure him that he is safe beside you whatever his fears are, and that even if he sleeps in a bed by himself, this does not mean that you are far from him, but assure him that you are close to him and that you will be by his side at any time when he needs you, and if Your child woke up during sleep, do not bring him to your room, but rather go to his room and stay beside him for several minutes until he goes back to sleep, so that he can get used to sleeping in his bed and believe that his room is completely safe.

Ban horror movies and stories

This is one of the most important ways to treat fear in children when sleeping, because watching your child horror movies and cartoons that contain brutal characters and reading terrifying fairy tales, all of this can stimulate the fantasies that remain in your child’s mind and return to his thinking at bedtime, so if these things have an effect Too big for your child, so you must prevent it at all, at least until your child reaches the age at which he differentiates between fantasy and reality.

Use night lighting

If your child is afraid of the dark, do not insist on turning off all the lights while sleeping, but you can use a soft lighting lamp, and you can also leave the room door slightly open, which gives him a feeling of comfort and more safety.

Boost your child’s self-confidence

Doing activities during the day that focus on enhancing your child’s self-confidence, building his personality, and acquiring new skills, giving him the courage to face his fears at bedtime.

Use his favorite things

There is no child who does not have a toy or something closely related to it. Find your child’s favorite toy and put it next to him in bed as a companion that gives him a sense of comfort and safety.

When should we worry about children’s fear of sleep?

If you have tried everything you can do to treat your child’s fear of sleep, and your child still suffers from this problem and it turns out to be a child anxiety disorder. And your child’s condition worsened and he became resistant to sleeping in any way, talking about more severe fears, and he became more nightmares, then your child may be suffering from a condition Post-traumatic stress disorder Because of an accident or a specific situation he went through that affected his psychological state, then you should seek help from a psychologist.

Finally, in the normal case, treating fear in children when sleeping is not difficult, but it requires some time and patience on the part of the parents until the child overcomes his fears, and if you have any questions, you can ask one of our doctors from here.