You said that your child wakes up at night (or from a nap) after having a very scary dream. You also said your child can usually tell you about the dream. S/he may have dreams about:
You said that when your child wakes up from the dream s/he knows who you are. S/he is also aware of what is going on around him/her.
Your child probably has these dreams in early morning hours. Your child may be afraid after waking up and find it hard to go back to sleep. Some children are very upset by these dreams. They may be irritable the next day because they couldn't go back to sleep. You may be upset, too. You said that these nightmares are causing problems for your child at home, school, or other places. Your child's waking at night may be making it hard for you to get through your day. Some children with these types of problems have Nightmare Disorder.
Your child may have more than one nightmare a night. It is probably about the same thing. These dreams may be making hard for your child to get enough sleep at night. Your child may also have some of following problems if s/he is not getting enough sleep:
As many 50% of young children have dreams that are bad enough to worry their parents. In adults, as many as 50% of individuals have a nightmare once in a while. Not much is known about how many children actually have Nightmare Disorder.
Nightmares often start between ages 3 and 6 years. These bad dreams often start after a child goes through something very upsetting. Tell your doctor if this is true for your child. Most children who have a nightmare problem outgrow it. For some children, bad dreams may keep happening when they are adults.
Adapted in part from the American Psychiatric Association (APA) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) (1994) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Primary Care (DSM-PC) (1996).