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4. They have bad dreams and nightmares.
Stress can be a problem for your foster child all the time or just once in a while. It also can be mild or more serious. As it gets worse, the child’s fear, anger, and frustration start to take over. At this level, stress is with the child whether he is awake or asleep.
A bad dream or restless night once in a while are no big deal. Even a nightmare on rare occasion is not something to worry about. Here is the problem. If the bad dreams happen often and especially if they are bad enough to call nightmares, the child has a real problem with stress.
There are some things you can do to help. First, encourage the child to have a quiet time before bed. You can talk with him for fifteen or twenty minutes about something positive and not stressful. The idea is to help him slow down and calm down before trying to go to sleep.
See if sometime during the day you can get the child to talk with you about his fears and frustrations. Talking is always the best medicine for stress. Talking about the dreams or nightmares will not help much.
Help her learn to wake completely up after a bad dream and especially after a nightmare. Encourage her to try to go to the bathroom and to come wake you up. Your reassurance while she is still afraid will help. Talking about something to get her mind off the dream often is just the right help.
If things do not get better in a couple weeks, counseling is necessary. Also, there is a problem called night-terrors. They are not exactly nightmares. With this problem, the child’s fear is extreme and it is very hard to get him to wake up. Often, the child sleep-walks during a night-terror. He may give you the feeling he is awake. These terrors always need checked by a doctor. The child probably will get medicine for his stress.