Night terror leads to sleep disorder!

It is a natural result that night terror leads to sleep disorder. And sleep disorder because of night terror can typically occurs between children in the age of 3 – 12 years.

Sleep generally is divided into two categories:
1.    rapid eye movement (REM).
2.    Non-rapid eye movement (non-REM).

Non-REM sleep is further divided into four stages,
1.    progressing from stages 1-4.
2.    Night terrors occur during the transition from stage 3
3.    Non-REM sleep to stage 4
4.    Non-REM sleep, beginning approximately 90 minutes after the child falls asleep.

There is a big different between night terror and nightmares, which occur during REM sleep. Night terrors are characterized by frequent recurrent episodes of intense crying and fear during sleep, with difficulty arousing the child. Night terrors are frightening episodes that can disrupt family life.
 
About 1% - 6% of children experience night terrors. Boys and girls are equally affected. Children of all races also seem to be affected equally. The disorder usually resolves during adolescence.

Causes of night Terrors.
Night terrors may be caused by the following:
•    Stressful life events.
•    Fever.
•    Sleep deprivation.
•    Medications that affect the central nervous system.
•    Recent anesthesia given for surgery.

Symptoms of Night Terrors:
In addition to frequent recurrent episodes of intense crying and fear during sleep, with difficulty arousing the child, children with night terrors may also experience the following:
•    Tachycardia (increased heart rate).
•    Tachypnea (increased breathing rate).
•    Sweating during episodes.

Unlike nightmares, most children do not recall a dream after a night terror episode, and they usually do not remember the episode the next morning.

The typical night terror episode usually begins approximately 90 minutes after falling asleep. The child sits up in bed and screams, appearing awake but is confused, disoriented, and unresponsive to stimuli. Although the child seems to be awake, the child does not seem to be aware of the parents’ presence and usually does not talk. The child may thrash around in bed and does not respond to comforting by the parents.

Most episodes last 1-2 minutes, but they may last up to 30 minutes before the child relaxes and returns to normal sleep.

If the child does awake during a night terror, only small pieces of the episode may be recalled. Usually, the child does not remember the episode upon waking in the morning.

When should we seek medical care?
Sleep disruption is parents’ most frequent concern during the first years of a child’s life. Half of all children develop a disrupted sleep pattern serious enough to warrant physician assistance.

•    In children younger than 3½ years, peak frequency of night terrors is at least one episode per week.
•    Among older children, peak frequency of night terrors is one to two episodes per month.

If your child seems to be experiencing night terrors, an evaluation by the child’s pediatrician may be useful. During this evaluation, the pediatrician may also be able to exclude other possible disorders that might cause night terrors.

Tests for Night Terrors!
Usually, a complete history and a physical exam are sufficient to diagnose night terrors. If other disorders are suspected, additional tests may be useful to exclude them:

•    An electroencephalogram (EEG), which is a test to measure brain activity, may be performed if a seizure disorder is suspected.
•    Polysomnography (a combination of tests used to check for adequate breathing while asleep) may be done if a breathing disorder is suspected.
•    CT scans and MRIs are usually not necessary.

Home Remedies for Night Terrors
Parents might take the following precautions at home:
•    Make the child’s room safe to try to prevent the child from being injured during an episode.
•    Eliminate all sources of sleep disturbance.
•    Maintain a consistent bedtime routine and wake-up time.

Medical Treatment for Night Terrors
Unfortunately, no adequate treatment exists for night terrors. Management primarily consists of educating the family about the disorder and reassuring them that the episodes are not harmful.
In severe cases in which daily activities (for example, school performance or peer or family relations) are affected, tricyclic antidepressants (such as imipramine) may be used as a temporary treatment.

Medications for Night Terrors
Although tricyclic antidepressants (such as imipramine) are rarely indicated for night terrors because they do not provide long-term help for the child, they may be used as a temporary treatment. Tricyclic antidepressants are usually only prescribed for severe symptoms in which the child’s waking behavior (for example, school performance or peer or family relations) is affected.

Next Steps & Follow-Up
Frequent follow-up care with your doctor to provide support and reassurance helps alleviate their anxieties.

Night Terror Prevention
If your child has night terrors, you can try to interrupt her sleep in order to prevent one.
•    Note how many minutes the night terror occurs from your child’s bedtime.
•    Then, awaken your child 15 minutes before the expected night terror, and keep her awake and out of bed for five minutes. You may want to take your child to the bathroom to see if she will urinate.
•    Continue this routine for a week.

Outlook for Night Terrors
Night terror episodes are short-lived and usually occur over several weeks. Nearly all children outgrow night terrors by adolescence.

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Short children and the “Growth Hormone”!

Parents often worry when their child, especially a son, is much shorter than average. But as long as there is no medical cause, parents can rest easy, experts say.

Two pediatric endocrinologists describe a scenario pediatricians see all the time: Parents bring in their 11-year-old son because he's substantially shorter than his classmates, and his growth seems to have slowed in recent years.

Their concern is reasonable, said Dr. David Allen, Allen and Dr. Leona Cuttler describe a boy whose height was in the third percentile at age 9 years. (That means he was shorter than 97 percent of boys his age.) But his growth rate slowed further, so that he is now in the first percentile for height.
"When a child falls off the growth curve like that, it's appropriate for parents to be concerned and have him evaluated," Allen said.

The potential medical causes include growth hormone deficiency, certain genetic disorders or an underactive thyroid gland. Fortunately, though, most short kids are healthy.

The "conundrum," Allen said, is that parents are often still worried, especially when that child is a boy. And, in the United States, human growth hormone is approved to treat so-called idiopathic short stature -- that is, short stature with no known medical cause -- when a child is below the first percentile for height.

So parents may want costly treatment even if their child has a clean bill of health.
Dr. Patricia Vuguin said some doctors will recommend doing nothing. And, "some will say, let's try growth hormone," she said.


But both Vuguin and Allen said it's important for parents to have realistic expectations of growth hormone. For short, healthy children, studies predict that growth hormone will deliver an extra 1 to 3 inches as an adult. And that's the average; other factors come into play.

If both parents are short, that limits what growth hormone therapy can do. "We can't modify your genetic potential," Vuguin said.

The fictional family in Allen's report fit that scenario. The mother was 5 feet tall, while the dad stood at 5 feet 6 inches. Their son's predicted height, with no intervention, was 5 feet 5 inches -- the lower end of "normal."

"You have to think, how important is an inch or two of extra height in the big picture?" Vuguin said. "Is the difference between 5 feet 5 inches and 5 feet 6 inches that important?"

Allen said there are instances where healthy children are extremely short, and "it's appropriate to help them grow." But for most kids, it's "reasonable" to just keep watching their growth rate and reassure the parents.

Often, parents worry about their child (again, usually a son) being teased, or -- as an adult -- feeling unhappy or even being at a disadvantage career-wise.

But studies have not borne out those worries, Allen said. Short children and adults do not seem less happy than their taller peers, and there's no proof that treating idiopathic short stature improves quality of life.

"The more we look into this 'assumed morbidity' associated with short stature, the less we find," Allen said. "And it's been very difficult to show that treating (idiopathic short stature) improves kids' well-being as adults."
As far as safety, growth hormone "has an excellent track record while kids are on it," Allen said. But no one knows yet if there are risks later in life. In theory, growth hormone might raise the odds of diabetes or certain cancers down the road. But for now, those are theoretical risks, Allen said.

The other big issue is cost. A conservative estimate is that each inch of height gained with growth hormone treatment would ring up at $35,000 to $50,000, Allen said.

Growth hormone is not the only option for idiopathic short stature. Boys can be given low doses of androgens, or "male" hormones. This therapy boosts boys' growth rate in the short term, but there's no evidence it increases their adult height, Allen said.

"It's always reasonable to say, 'Let's just watch this,'" Allen said. At first, the gap might worsen if a short child's peers hit puberty earlier and their growth takes off, he noted. But once a "late bloomer" starts puberty himself, his growth will accelerate, too.

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Recognize 12 reasons for baby cry!

 

There are some signs which help you recognize the real reason why your baby is crying. These signs are his tool to communicate to express his pain, his hunger, his need for sleep … etc.

At first, It can be tricky to interpret your child’s cries. In the following lines we are going some signs which will help you how to find out the real reasons for his cries.

Totally these are the most known reasons.

1. Hunger
2. A dirty diaper
3. Needs sleep
4. Wants to be held
5. Tummy troubles (gas, colic, and more)
6. Needs to burp
7. Too cold or too hot
8. Something small
9. Teething
10. Wants less stimulation
11. Wants more stimulation
12. Not feeling well

Now lets discuss each reason in some details.

1.    Hunger.

This is the first thing you should think of when your baby cries. The signs of his hunger are as follow: fussing, smacking of lips, turn his head towards your hand when you stroke his cheek, and putting  his hands to his mouth.

2.    A dirty diaper.

This kind of reason is so easy to check. Some babies let you know right away when they need change by crying. Some others may wait for quite a while.

3.    Needs sleep.

In reality, it's harder for them than you might think. Instead of nodding off, babies may fuss and cry, especially if they're overly tired. If baby starts crying after being played with, fed, and changed, she is overtired. Just hold him close, talk to him in soft voice. Before long, he will sleep.

4.    Wants to be held.

Cudding is one of the most things babies like. They like to smell parents unique smell, like to see parents faces, hear their voices, listen to their heartbeats. Crying can be one of there ways to express their need to be held close. One of the best things you van do to hold him close the most of time is to wear him in a front carrier or sling.

5.    Tummy troubles (gas, colic, and more).

Usually gas and colic are the most reasons for tummy troubles. A mysterious condition called  colic is defined as inconsolable crying for at least three hours a day, at least three days a week, at least three weeks in a month.

If your baby often fusses and cries right after being fed, he may be feeling some sort of tummy pain. Even if your baby isn't colicky and has never been fussy after eating, an occasional bout of gas pain can make him miserable until he works it out. If you suspect gas, try something simple to eliminate it such as putting him on his back, holding his feet, and moving his legs in a gentle bicycling motion.

6.    Needs to burp.

Burping isn't mandatory. But if your baby cries after a feeding, a good burp may be all he needs. Babies swallow air when they breastfeed or suck from a bottle, and if the air isn't released it may cause some discomfort. Some babies are intensely bothered by having air in their tummy, while others don't seem to burp or need to be burped much at all.

7.    Too cold or too hot.

When your baby feels chilly, such as when you remove his clothes to change a diaper or clean his bottom with a cold wipe, he may protest by crying. Newborns like to be bundled up and kept warm, but not too warm. As a rule, they’re comfortable wearing one more layer than you need to be comfortable. Babies are less likely to complain about being too warm than about being too cold, and they won't cry about it as vigorously.

8.     Something small.

Babies can be troubled by something as hard to spot as a hair wrapped tightly around a tiny toe or finger, cutting off circulation. (Doctors call this painful situation a "hair tourniquet," and it's one of the first things they look for if a baby seems to be crying for no reason.)

Some babies are extra sensitive to things like scratchy clothing tags or fabric. And they can be very picky (understandably) about subtleties ranging from the position they're held in to the bottle you offer. 

9. Teething.

Teething can be painful as each new tooth pushes through tender young gums. Some babies suffer more than others, but all are likely to be fussy and tearful at some point along the way. If your baby seems to be in pain and you're not sure why, try feeling his gums with your finger. You may be surprised to discover the hard nub of a baby tooth on its way in. On average, the first tooth breaks through between 4 and 7 months, but it can happen earlier. 

10.     Wants less stimulation.

Babies learn from the stimulation of the world around them, but sometimes they have a hard time processing it all, the lights, the noise, being passed from hand to hand. Crying can be a baby's way of saying, "I've had enough."

Many newborns enjoy being swaddled. It seems to make them feel more secure when the world gets overwhelming.

11.     Wants more stimulation.

A "demanding" baby may be outgoing and eager to see the world. And often the only way to stop the crying and fussing is to stay active. This can be exhausting for you!.

Try "wearing" your baby in a sling, front carrier, or backpack. Plan plenty of activities. Hang out with other parents with babies. Go on regular outings to kid-friendly places, whether that's your local playground, a children's museum, or the zoo.

12.     Not feeling well.

If you've met your baby's basic needs and comforted him and he's still crying, he could be coming down with something. You may want to check his temperature to rule out a fever and be alert for other signs of illness.

The cry of a sick baby tends to be distinct from one caused by hunger or frustration. If your baby's crying "just doesn't sound right," trust your instincts and call or see a doctor.

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7 benefits of natural breastfeeding!

There is a famous medical saying, it says; "what is good for baby is good also for his mother". In other words, if you follow natural way for breastfeeding your baby, your baby will benefit and you too will benefit. 

What are benefits of breastfeeding?!

• It saves you from breast cancer. Breastfeeding reduces.

• It saves you from uterine and ovarian cancer.

• It saves you from osteoporosis.

• It gives you the chance for child spacing.

• It supports emotional health.

• It supports postpartum weight loss.

• It helps to reduce the cost of lactation.

1.      It saves you from breast cancer. Breastfeeding reduces.

When you breastfeed your baby, that will lessen the risk of developing breast cancer 25%. The more time a mother breastfeeds her baby, the lower her risk she is prone to breast cancer.

2.      It saves you from uterine and ovarian cancer.

Breastfeeding also is one of the reasons that help your uterine and ovarian fight cancer effects and that because of the estrogen levels which become in lower levels during breastfeeding. It is thought that the less estrogen available to stimulate the lining of the uterus and perhaps breast tissue also, the less the risk of these tissues becoming cancerous.

3.      It saves you from osteoporosis.

Breastfeeding also reduces the risk of osteoporosis 25%. The non-breastfeeding women have a four times greater chance of developing osteoporosis and hip fractures in the post-menopausal years than those breastfeeding women.

4.      It gives you the chance for child spacing.

It is very known that breastfeeding delays ovulation and of course delays the pregnancy too. The longer a mother breastfeeds the more she is able to practice natural child spacing,

5.      It supports emotional health.

Studies showed that breastfeeding not only good for a mother's body, but also good for her mind. It was obvious through these studies that breastfeeding mothers show less postpartum and depression than non-breastfeeding mothers.

6.      It supports postpartum weight loss.

Breastfeeding mothers showed significantly larger reductions in hip circumference and more fat loss by one month postpartum when compared with formula-feeding mothers. Breastfeeding mothers tend to have an earlier return to their pre-pregnant weight.

7.      It helps to reduce the cost of lactation.

It costs around $1,200 a year to formula-feed your baby. Even taking into consideration the slight increase in food costs to a breastfeeding mother, the American Academy of Pediatrics estimates that a breastfeeding mother will save around $400 during the first year of breastfeeding.

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A discussion about bringing up our children!

Bringing up our children is not so easy, it is most responsible and satisfying task we do in our life. We can say that it is the job which has the priority of our responsibilities in life.

Usually, our knowledge about raising children comes from our surroundings and our parents' raising us experience. This experience which they acquired from their own parents. It is just a social experience repeated from generation to the following one until it reached or children.

 

We have to consider that we role models!

We have to realize that parents are the most effective role models our children can have. If we show respect, kindness, honesty, friendliness, hospitality, and generosity to our children that will encourage them to have us as role models and behave in the same way as we do.

So, we should express our unconditional love for our children. Also we should provide them with continued support they may need to have self confidence and happiness.

 

Ethical boundaries are necessary to be reasonable!

Ethical Discipline is crucial specially while bringing up our children. Our children should learn reasonable ethical boundaries as you’re your children learn through discipline, they learn and understand well that some behaviors are acceptable and other behaviors are unacceptable.

Thus, setting ethical boundaries for our children do help them to know and learn how to behave in their society and surroundings.

The difficulty of setting discipline is that it needs consistency. Parents' job is twenty four hours job, and the e rules of the role model should be applied all the time.

Put into your mind! and remember very well!, inconsistency and the absence of discipline create confused and rootless children. So, parents must put in the effort every time to provide consistent ethical boundaries to their own children.

The absence of children and parents from each other!

The time which both parents and children spend with each other is very valuable. Nowadays, it's very difficult to find time to spend together with each other as a family. Usually, parents are involved in their work which limits their time preventing them from having enough time to spend with their children. Moreover, children too are involved in their school and other homework and different activities.

Try, as much as you can, to save some time, such as during breakfast time or lunch time while your family is together, especially if you understood that fixed routines are very important for children.

Mealtimes are very important. They can provide you with a perfect opportunity to talk about each other about you daily life matters, events, everyday situations … etc. Everyone should participate the conversation and parents should pay attention and show their interest in what they are saying.

You should make that as a family rule that all family members eat together and stay at the table until everyone else has finished eating his meal. This will give a good chance to have a good period of time and a good opportunity for conversation.

One of most times children prefer is to have a special day which is reserved for special activities. For example; one day of the week with father in the library afternoon, or a day of the week swimming with Mum. Also, we can specify a day for family ties which strengthen families' relationships. Moreover, we have to give the children to take part in planning activities.

Train your children how to think and talk!

Offering explanations will help children work matters out for themselves. Take time to point out how things are connected, for example, in terms of cause and effect.

Parents, who think out loud with their children, will see them develop a similar train of thought. They will learn to talk and think in a more sophisticated way.

If parents express emotions and feelings, their children will learn it's okay to do the same.
When your children want to talk or ask questions, encourage them. If you're dismissive, or always say you're too busy, they may express frustration and stop wanting to share their thoughts and feelings.

If the family has a problem that concerns your child, involve them in the discussion. Try to find possible solutions together with him or her.

When discussing options, also talk about consequences. The possible outcome will influence your final decision. Be open to the child's suggestions. Let them take part in the negotiations and the decision.

A child who experiences this kind of communication will become confident and learn the rules of good communication.

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Your baby needs massage for more Oxytocin hormone!

What is Oxytocin?

Oxytocin is the hormone which is responsible for making your baby feels warm and loving feeling while holding him or even breastfeeding him.

How can I help with the Oxytocin hormone?

Making massage to your baby and the loving touches of your hands and fingers can help with this. You can gently and rhythmically massage your baby's body. That will make him feel comfortable and there will be exchange of loving feelings between you and your baby. Your massage to the baby is the best thing you can do for this warm and inner loving feelings.

What other benefits of baby massage?

Baby massage has lots of benefits such as;

-    Baby massage helps your baby to grow and thrive.
-    Baby massage strengthens his attachment to you.
-    Baby massages helps him to relax and not upset.
-    Baby massage helps him to cry less.
-    Baby massage makes him sleep better.

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How can I make a timeline style for my baby?

First of all, put into your consideration that it is very normal matter for newborn babies to have their own unpredictable habits of sleeping and nutrition. They may also mix the day and the night times. So, don't interrupt their timeline style with sudden changes. Be patient, it is a matter of time to let him follow the timeline you desire with some little effort from you.

In fact, you have to respect his timeline style and try to watch and notice carefully all the indications he sends to tell you he is hungry, or that he got his satisfaction of his meal.

After good understanding of his indications, there are some things you can do for lobbing your baby and making him follow a table of particular timeline style. Let's see how we can do this;

Modify his schedule in a regular way, step by step.

Bath your baby and take him out for a walk for some time at the same time every day. This is what we call (Learning in conjunction). This will make your baby be used to the daily routine idea. He will feel comfortable to this idea. Thus you have started to make him get used to and understand that life is a set of routine business. This will make it easy later to modify all his schedule timeline style concerning all his matters such as sleeping, nutrition … etc.

Modify his timeline style concerning breastfeeding!

Sometimes you notice that your child sleep at the end of breastfeeding process. Here, he gives you indication that he got enough. Sometimes he sleeps during the breastfeeding process without getting his complete meal. He does this just get some sleep and get up again after half an hour to complete his meal as he is still hungry. So, during lactation don't feed him to glut if he is still awake, because in this case, he stopped because he got enough. But if you noticed that he is going to sleep, try to be sure he got enough before sleeping and don't let him sleep by playing some dynamic music which takes his attention, talk to him, or even change his diaper in the middle of the meal.

During breastfeeding try to offer both breasts and be sure he got his complete meal. This will make him sleep longer between meals. If your child is a weak sucker, you have to massage your breast yourself to make it easy for the baby to get his enough.

Remember that there are Individual differences among babies. Some babies are able to empty the breast completely within 4 to 5 minutes, others take about 15 to 20 minutes to do.

Pay attention to your baby's routine,

When your child is newborn baby, feed him whenever you notice that he is hungry. That may happen 12 times a day during the first few weeks. It will reach gradually to 18 times a day. Here you have to begin thinking of making a suitable timeline style for his nutrition.

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Let your child learn from his mistakes!

                I know that it is very hard for most of us to sit back and let his child do mistakes without directing his deeds and behaviors.

                In fact, we need to do that and bite our tongue for some time giving them the chance to make mistakes that we will use later to help them learn from their mistakes. And then we can guide the behavior and actions. I agree with you that this is not easy to do at all, but let's learn how to do.

Just let your child do his own matters;

                Let your child do his/her things such as homework, science experiment, art project or whatever he/she does.

Watch his behaviors only;

                Just watch, don't offer any help, because such homework is for the child to practice and for his teacher to know what the child already had learned and which points need some more work.

Later be your child's guide;

In other words, help your child to learn how to learn. While watching your child behavior, you should be thinking how would you guide him when time comes. Use some phrases like: "What do you think if you do it like that?" , "How could we figure that out?" , and so on. This will help him to think of problems and give his own opinion to solve them. This is the ideal way to help your child learn how to learn.

Share your child his games;

                Let your child lose his game. Later, share him his game in order to let him win, but in a strategic way. It won't be a real wining for your child, but you lose to let him learn how to strengthen his strategies and see that he can learn from other people.

Finally, I agree with you it is not so easy at all to sit back like this watching our childs frustration. But we need to do just to let them learn themselves how to learn.

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Let's know how our kids learn!

                Let's remind you at first that when you notice your kid's wide-eyed and curious gaze, this means that he/she is experiencing something for the first time.

                New things always make their learning process continue in an infinite way and that matter makes their learning interact with the world around them.

                For babies, talking in the world around them is like something happening around you very fast and you are trying to understand what happens. They same thing for them, they are trying to absorb and understand as much as they can, so as to prioritize their connections the matter which helps them navigate their world in better way while they grow.

                So, for babies, the most important thing for their learning is that there should be a safe space and environment for them to explore and continue learning.

                Give your babies the safe space and environment to help them go on learning.

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Welcome to sweetie kids and beloved babies area!

Every mother all over the world always hear different advice about their babies, what they need, how to deal with them, how to care about them ... etc. But in fact you are the best of them who knows your baby just as you do. So, trust what you think about your baby concerning what he/she needs, what he/she loves, how he/she plays, how he/she sleeps.

 

 

 

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