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Preparing for your appointment
By Mayo Clinic staffFor children, nightmares tend to decrease by the time they're adolescents. However, if you have concerns about safety or underlying conditions, you may want to see your doctor. Your doctor may refer you to a sleep specialist.
Your doctor also will need to know:
- When the nightmares began
- How often the nightmares occur and what they're about
- Your medical history
- Any medications you're taking or have taken
- Whether you have or have had any other sleep problems
- Whether you have family members with sleep problems
It's a good idea to keep a sleep diary for two weeks before your appointment to help your doctor understand your sleeping pattern. In the morning, you record as much as you know of your or your child's bedtime ritual, quality of sleep, and so on. At the end of the day, you record behaviors that may affect your or your child's sleep, such as caffeine consumption (chocolate and cola count) and any medications taken.
Write down any questions that occur to you before your appointment to ensure you get the answers you seek while with your doctor.
- Nightmares and other disturbing parasomnias. American Academy of Sleep Medicine. http://www.aasmnet.org..ces/FactSheets/NightmareParasom.pdf. Accessed June 1, 2009.
- Nightmares. American Academy of Sleep Medicine. http://www.sleepeducation.com/Disorder.aspx?id=37. Accessed June 1, 2009.
- Sleepiness diary. National Sleep Foundation. Accessed June 2, 2009.
- Simard V, et al. Longitudinal study of bad dreams in preschool-aged children: Prevalence, demographic correlates, risk and protective factors. Sleep. 2008;31:62.
