Why Do Kids Have Nightmares More Often

A child wakes in the dark, crying, and calls for a parent. The dream was about a monster, or about being lost, or about a loud noise, or about someone the child loves being in danger. To an adult, the dream sounds simple, even a little silly. To the child, it was completely real. The child’s heart is beating fast, the child’s hands are clutching the blanket, and the fear is as true as any fear the child has felt during the day. That gap, between how simple the dream sounds to an adult and how real it felt to the child, is the heart of this question. Children do have nightmares more often than adults, and there are clear, kind reasons for it.

This is general information only, not personal advice. Nightmares in children are common, and having them does not mean a child is unwell or that a parent has done something wrong. Most children have bad dreams at some point, and most of them grow out of frequent nightmares as they get older. The reasons are to do with how a child’s brain is still growing, how strongly a child feels things, and how much of the world is still new to a child. Understanding those reasons helps a parent respond with patience, instead of worry, and helps the child feel safe again after a frightening night.

It helps to start with the plain fact. A nightmare is a frightening dream that wakes the child up, and that the child can remember when they wake. Children between the ages of about three and twelve have nightmares most often, and the peak is usually in the early school years. Younger children may have bad dreams too, but they often cannot describe them clearly. Older children and teenagers have fewer nightmares, though they can still have them, especially during stressful times. The pattern is steady across many families and many countries, which tells us that it is part of how children grow, not a sign of a problem in one particular home.

A Growing Brain Is Still Learning What Is Real

A child’s brain is still learning one of the hardest jobs in life: telling the difference between what is real and what is imagined. An adult knows, without thinking, that a shadow on the wall is not a person, and that a story in a book is not happening in the room. A young child is still learning that skill, and it takes years to learn it fully. During the day, a child can usually tell the difference, because the real world is there to check against. At night, in a dream, there is no real world to check against. The checking part of the brain is resting, and the feeling part is awake. For a child, whose checking part is still developing, the dream can feel even more real than it does for an adult.

Imagination is part of this. A child’s imagination is strong and vivid, and it is one of the best things about childhood. The same imagination that lets a child turn a box into a house, or a stick into a sword, also lets a dream turn a shadow into a monster. The brain is not trying to frighten the child. It is using the same power that makes play so rich, and in a dream that power is free to run without the daytime checks that usually keep it in balance. A child who has a wonderful imagination during the day is likely to have vivid dreams at night, both good and bad. The two go together, and they are both signs of a healthy, growing mind.

Memory also plays a part, and it works differently in a young child. A child remembers the feeling of a dream more clearly than the details of it. A child may not remember exactly what the monster looked like, but the child remembers being afraid, and remembers the feeling of being alone in the dark. That feeling is what wakes the child and brings the cry for a parent. As children grow older, their memory becomes more detailed, and they can describe their dreams more clearly. A ten-year-old can often tell you the whole story of a nightmare, while a four-year-old may only be able to say, it was scary, and point to the dark corner of the room. Both are describing the same thing: a frightening feeling in a dream.

The brain’s sleep pattern matters too. Children spend more time in dreaming sleep than adults do, and dreaming sleep is when most nightmares happen. A young child’s sleep has longer dreaming periods, and the dreams in those periods can be longer and more detailed. That is not a fault. Dreaming sleep is important for learning, for memory, and for growth, and children need a lot of it. The cost is that there is more time each night for a dream to turn frightening. As children grow, the amount of dreaming sleep slowly falls, and the number of nightmares usually falls with it. The change is gradual, and it is a normal part of growing up.

Feelings Are Stronger and Closer to the Surface in Childhood

A child’s feelings are strong, and they are close to the surface. An adult can feel worried and still carry on with the day, pushing the worry aside. A child feels worry with the whole body, and it shows at once: in tears, in clinging, in a refusal to go to bed, or in a bad dream at night. That closeness of feeling is why a small event during the day can become a large dream at night. A disagreement with a friend, a scolding at school, a loud argument at home, or a frightening scene in a film can all leave a strong feeling in a child, and the dreaming brain can turn that feeling into a frightening scene.

Fear itself is different in childhood. A child fears things that an adult has learned not to fear: the dark, being alone, loud noises, strangers, or being separated from a parent. These are normal childhood fears, and they are part of learning about the world. At night, in a dream, those fears can take a shape. The dark becomes a monster. Being alone becomes being lost. A loud noise becomes a crash. The dream is not inventing a new fear. It is giving a shape to a fear the child already knows during the day. That is why a nightmare often feels so personal to a child. It is about the child’s own fears, in the child’s own language.

Separation is a particular fear that appears often in children’s dreams. A young child depends on a parent for everything, and the thought of being away from that parent, even for a short time, can feel frightening. A dream about being lost in a large place, or about a parent going away, often carries that feeling. It does not mean the child is unhappy, or that the parent has done something wrong. It means the child loves the parent deeply and is still learning that the parent will come back. That learning takes time, and dreams are one of the places where it happens. A child who has just started school, or who has spent a night away from home for the first time, may have more nightmares for a while, and that is a normal part of adjusting to a new step.

Excitement can feed nightmares too, not only fear. A birthday, a holiday, a visit from relatives, or a new experience can leave a child full of strong feelings, and those feelings can spill into dreams. A child who is excited may dream vividly, and a vivid dream can turn frightening if the excitement tips into worry. A child who is looking forward to a school trip may dream about missing the bus. A child who is excited about a new baby in the family may dream about the baby being in danger. The feeling underneath is not only fear. It is a mix of excitement, worry, and love, all together. The dreaming brain does not separate those feelings neatly. It mixes them into one scene, and the scene can feel frightening even when the day was happy.

New Experiences Give the Brain New Material to Dream About

Childhood is a time of constant newness. Every week brings something new: a new teacher, a new friend, a new place, a new story, a new rule, or a new word. An adult’s days are more routine, and routine gives the brain less new material to dream about. A child’s days are full of firsts, and firsts give the brain a lot to sort through at night. That sorting happens in dreams, and when the new experience was difficult or frightening, the dream can become a nightmare. A child who has had a difficult first day at a new school may dream about being lost in the school building. A child who has watched a frightening film may dream about the frightening character. The dream is the brain’s way of working through something new, and the work can feel rough.

Stories and screens are a large part of this new material. A story that an adult finds mild can feel very strong to a child, because the child’s imagination fills in the gaps. A book about a dragon, a cartoon with a loud villain, or a film with a frightening scene can all stay in a child’s mind long after the story has ended. The child may not talk about it during the day, but the image may return at night, in a dream, bigger and louder than it was on the screen. This does not mean stories and screens are bad for children. It means that a child’s mind takes them in deeply, and that a frightening story close to bedtime can make a nightmare more likely that night. A calm story, or no screen at all in the hour before bed, gives the brain calmer material to dream about.

Changes at home can also feed nightmares. A move to a new house, a new baby, a parent working late, a family disagreement, or a time of worry in the family can all unsettle a child, even if the child does not talk about it. Children notice far more than adults sometimes think. They notice a parent’s tired face, a change in routine, or a tense voice, and they carry that noticing into sleep. The nightmare may not be about the change itself. It may be about being lost, or about a loud noise, or about a dark room. But the feeling underneath is the same feeling the child noticed during the day: that something has changed, and the world feels a little less steady than before. When the change settles, and the routine becomes steady again, the nightmares usually settle too.

School itself is a rich source of dream material. School brings new people, new rules, new learning, and new social pressures. A child who is worried about a test, about making friends, or about being scolded may dream about those worries. A child who is happy at school may dream about school too, but the dreams are more likely to be pleasant. The link is not mysterious. The brain dreams about what fills the day, and school fills a large part of a child’s day. That is why nightmares often increase at the start of a school term, or after a difficult week at school, and decrease during holidays, when the days are calmer and more free.

Tiredness, Routine and the Hours Before Bed

A tired child is more likely to have a nightmare. When a child is overtired, sleep comes quickly but it is often broken, and the brain may wake briefly many times through the night. Each brief waking can land in the middle of a dream, and each one leaves a fresh memory of it. A child who has stayed up late, or who has had a very busy day with little rest, may have more vivid dreams that night. The same thing can happen when a child is unwell. A fever can make dreams more vivid and strange, and many adults remember having frightening dreams when they were ill as children. A high temperature changes how the brain works during sleep, and the dreams can become more intense.

Routine matters a great deal for children, more than it does for adults. A child feels safe when the day has a steady shape: similar times for meals, play, bath and bed, and a familiar bedtime routine. When the routine is broken, by a holiday, a visit, a late night, or a change in the household, the child may feel less steady, and the dreams may become more frightening. That does not mean a family should never change its routine. It means that during a time of change, a child may need a little extra steadiness at bedtime: the same story, the same light, the same goodnight words. Those small familiar things tell the child that the world is still safe, even when other things have changed.

The hour before bed is especially important. A bright screen, a frightening film, a heated argument, or a long, exciting game close to bedtime can leave a child’s mind active as it falls asleep. The brain carries that activity into the first dreams of the night. A calm hour, with dim light, a quiet story, and a gentle conversation, gives the brain less frightening material to work with. It also helps to keep the bedroom itself calm: dark enough to sleep, cool enough to be comfortable, and familiar enough to feel safe. A small night light can help a child who is afraid of the dark, and a favourite blanket or toy can help a child feel safe. These are not luxuries. They are simple tools that help a child settle into sleep.

What a child eats and drinks in the evening can also play a small part. A very heavy meal close to bedtime can make sleep less comfortable, because the body is still working to digest it while it is trying to rest. A sweet drink or a sugary snack late in the evening can make a child more active and less ready for sleep. None of these will cause a nightmare on their own, and no single meal should be blamed for a bad dream. But a pattern of late, heavy meals and broken sleep can make frightening dreams more likely over time. A light evening meal, eaten at a regular time, and water to drink, are simple habits that help sleep stay steady.

How Nightmares Change as Children Grow

Nightmares change with age, and knowing how they change helps a parent understand what a child is going through. In the youngest years, from about three to five, nightmares are often about monsters, animals, the dark, or being lost. The child may not be able to describe the dream clearly, but the fear is clear. At this age, the child’s imagination is very strong, and the line between real and imagined is still thin. A shadow on the wall can become a monster in a dream, and a story about a wolf can become a wolf in the bedroom. The child needs comfort more than explanation, and a parent’s presence is the best help.

From about six to nine, nightmares often become more detailed. The child can describe the dream, and the fears become more social: being scolded, being left out, losing a friend, or something happening to a parent. School and friendships now fill the child’s days, and they fill the child’s dreams too. A child of this age may also begin to worry about real dangers they have heard about, from news or from other children, and those worries can appear in dreams. The child is learning about the world, and the learning includes learning about things that can go wrong. Nightmares at this age are often a sign that the child is thinking hard about the world, not a sign that something is wrong with the child.

From about ten to twelve, nightmares become less frequent, but they can become more emotional. The dreams may be about embarrassment, about failing, about being judged, or about losing someone. The child is becoming more aware of other people’s opinions, and more aware of the future. A nightmare at this age may feel more grown-up, and the child may be embarrassed to talk about it. A parent who listens without making fun of the dream, and without dismissing it, can help a great deal. The child needs to know that bad dreams are normal at every age, and that talking about them is not childish.

In the teenage years, nightmares become less common still, though they can return during stressful times, such as exams, or after a difficult event. A teenager’s dreams are more like an adult’s dreams, with more complex stories and more mixed feelings. The teenager may not want a parent to sit with them after a nightmare, and that is normal too. The help a teenager needs is often quieter: a light on, a glass of water, and the knowledge that someone is nearby if they need them. Respecting that need for independence, while still being available, is one of the harder parts of parenting a teenager, and it matters after a bad dream as much as it does during the day.

What Helps a Child in the Night

When a child wakes from a nightmare, the first minutes matter most. The child is frightened, and the child’s body is still in a state of alarm. The best help is simple and calm. Go to the child, speak in a soft voice, and let the child know you are there. Turn on a soft light, so the child can see the familiar room. Show the child the ordinary things in the room: the bed, the blanket, the toys, the door. These real things gently replace the frightening picture in the child’s mind. Trying to explain the dream away, or to prove that monsters are not real, is less helpful in the middle of the night than simply being present and calm.

It helps not to ask too many questions at once. A frightened child may not be able to describe the dream clearly, and being asked to do so can make the fear stronger. A few gentle words are enough: you are safe, you are at home, I am here, the dream has ended. If the child wants to talk, listen. If the child does not want to talk, do not force it. Some children settle quickly with a hug and a drink of water. Others need a few minutes of quiet company before they can sleep again. There is no single right way. The right way is the one that helps this child, on this night, feel safe again.

It also helps not to send the child straight back to sleep while the fear is still strong. A few minutes of quiet wakefulness, with a light on and a calm activity, can make it easier to fall asleep again. A short story, a few pages of a familiar book, or a quiet song can help. Going back to sleep too quickly, while the heart is still beating fast, can lead straight back into the same dream, because the brain is still holding the frightening feeling. A short, calm break lets the feeling settle. For a young child, that break is best spent with a parent nearby. For an older child, it may be enough to know that a parent is in the next room, and that the door is open.

In the morning, the nightmare can be talked about if the child wants to talk about it. A child who talks about a bad dream in daylight, with the sun shining and the day beginning, often finds that the dream feels smaller than it did in the dark. A parent can listen, and can help the child think about how the dream could have ended differently. If the dream ended with the child running away, imagine it ending with the child finding a safe place, or with a kind person helping. This is a simple idea, and it can be done in a playful way, with drawing or storytelling. It is not about changing the past. It is about giving the child a calmer version to hold on to, so that the frightening version is not the only one the child remembers.

What Helps Over Weeks, and When to Ask for Help

Over a longer time, a steady bedtime routine helps more than any single trick. A similar bedtime each night, a calm hour before bed with no screens, a familiar story, and a bedroom that is dark, cool and quiet can all make sleep steadier and dreams calmer. It also helps to keep the days steady: regular meals, time to play outside, time to move the body, and time to talk about the day. A child who has had time to play, to move, and to talk during the day has less unspoken worry to carry into sleep. A child who has spent the whole day indoors, with little movement and little talk, may carry more into the night.

It also helps to look at what the child is watching and reading, especially close to bedtime. A frightening film, a scary story, or a long session of worrying news can all leave strong images in a child’s mind. That does not mean a child should never hear a scary story. It means that the timing matters, and that a frightening story is better told in the daytime, with time to talk about it afterwards, than late at night, just before sleep. A parent who watches or reads with the child, and talks about the story, can help the child understand that it is only a story. That understanding, built up over time, is what slowly teaches the child to tell real from imagined, both in the day and in dreams.

Most childhood nightmares pass on their own, especially as the child grows older and the routine becomes steadier. But there are times when it is sensible to talk to a health professional, and it is important to name them plainly. If nightmares happen almost every night for weeks, and the child is afraid to go to sleep, that is worth mentioning. If the child is exhausted in the morning, or if the nightmares come with strong sadness, worry or fear during the day that does not lift, that is worth mentioning too. If nightmares begin after a frightening or painful event and do not settle after a few weeks, that is also worth mentioning. These are not reasons to panic. They are reasons to ask for help, because a health professional can look at the whole picture of the child’s sleep, mood and health.

It is also worth saying, clearly and kindly, that a child who has nightmares is not being difficult, and a parent whose child has nightmares has not failed. Nightmares are part of growing up, and they are part of how a child’s brain learns about the world. The brain is doing its nightly work, and sometimes that work feels frightening. Understanding that takes away much of the worry that can surround bad dreams, both for the child and for the parent. A nightmare is a frightening dream, not a frightening future. It ends when the child wakes up, even if the feeling takes a few minutes longer to leave. The morning comes, the room is still there, and the day can begin again. That simple truth, repeated night after night, is often the best comfort of all.

My Take:

If you ask me why children have nightmares more often than adults, my answer is gentle and simple: a child’s mind is still learning, and learning is hard work, even at night. A young child is still learning to tell real from imagined, still learning that the dark is only dark, still learning that a parent who leaves the room will come back, and still learning that a story is only a story. During the day, the real world helps with that learning, because the child can see and touch what is real. At night, in a dream, there is no real world to check against. The checking part of the brain is resting, the feeling part is awake, and the child’s strong imagination is free to run. That is why a dream that sounds simple to an adult can feel completely real to a child. The child is not being silly. The child is dreaming with a brain that is still growing.

I think the first thing a parent should remember after a child’s nightmare is that the fear was real, even though the dream was not. A child who wakes crying is not pretending, and is not making a fuss for attention. The child’s heart is beating fast, the child’s body is tense, and the fear is as true as any fear the child has felt during the day. I have seen how much it helps when a parent responds to the fear first, before trying to explain the dream away. A calm voice, a soft light, and a few minutes of quiet company do more than a long explanation at three in the morning. The child does not need to understand the brain at that hour. The child needs to feel safe, and safety comes from a familiar person in a familiar room. That is the whole help, in those first minutes, and it is enough.

What interests me most about children’s nightmares is how much they tell us about what the child is living through during the day. A nightmare about being lost often comes after a day when the child felt unsure, perhaps on a first day at a new school, or after a change at home. A nightmare about a monster often comes after a frightening story or film, because the child’s imagination has taken the story in deeply. A nightmare about a parent going away often comes from the child’s deep love and deep dependence, not from anything going wrong. I do not think we should read a nightmare as a diagnosis, or as a sign that something is wrong with the child. I think we should read it as a sign of what the child is working through, in the only language a dreaming brain has: feeling, given a shape.

I also think we should be careful with the language we use around a child’s bad dream. Telling a child that there is nothing to be afraid of, or that monsters are not real, is true, but it can feel dismissive to a child who has just been frightened. The child knows, in the morning, that the monster was not real. At three in the morning, the child needs comfort more than correction. I prefer a gentler way: you are safe, you are at home, I am here, the dream has ended. Those words do not argue with the dream. They simply place the child back in the real world, where the bed is real, the blanket is real, and the parent is real. Over time, the child learns to do that for themselves, to wake, to look at the room, and to settle back to sleep. That learning is slow, and it is a normal part of growing up.

There is something I want to say about routine, because I think it matters more for children than for adults, and it is easy to overlook. A child feels safe when the day has a steady shape: similar times for meals, play, bath and bed, and a familiar bedtime routine. When the routine is broken, the child may feel less steady, and the dreams may become more frightening. That does not mean a family should never change its routine. Life changes, and children need to learn to live with change. It means that during a time of change, a child may need a little extra steadiness at bedtime: the same story, the same light, the same goodnight words. Those small familiar things are anchors, and anchors help a child feel safe, even when other things have changed. I think many parents already know this in their hearts, even if they have never put it into words.

I think the hour before bed deserves special care. A bright screen, a frightening film, or a heated argument close to bedtime can leave a child’s mind active as it falls asleep, and the brain carries that activity into the first dreams of the night. A calm hour, with dim light, a quiet story, and a gentle conversation, gives the brain calmer material to dream about. I am not saying a child should never hear a scary story, or never watch a film with a villain. Stories are part of childhood, and a child needs to learn about fear in safe ways during the day. I am saying that the timing matters, and that a frightening story is better told in the daytime, with time to talk about it afterwards, than late at night, just before sleep. That small change in timing can make a real difference over a few weeks.

When I think about how nightmares change as children grow, I feel a quiet respect for the way children learn. A three-year-old dreams about monsters because the dark is still a mystery. A seven-year-old dreams about school and friends because school and friends now fill the day. A ten-year-old dreams about embarrassment and failing because other people’s opinions now matter. Each stage brings a new fear, and each fear is a sign that the child is growing into a larger world. The nightmares do not mean the child is failing. They mean the child is learning, and learning is sometimes frightening, both in the day and at night. As the child grows, the nightmares usually become less frequent, not because the child has become braver in a simple way, but because the child has learned more about the world, and the world has become more familiar.

I also want to speak to parents who worry that they have done something wrong when their child has nightmares. You have not. Nightmares are part of growing up, and they happen in loving homes as well as in difficult ones. A child who has nightmares is not a sign of a bad home. A child who has nightmares is a sign of a growing brain, a strong imagination, and a heart that feels things deeply. The best help a parent can give is not to prevent every nightmare, because that is not possible, but to be there when one comes, to be calm, and to help the child learn, night by night, that a frightening dream ends, the room is still there, and the morning comes again. That lesson, repeated many times, is one of the most important lessons a child can learn: that fear passes, and that safety returns.

My final view is that a child’s nightmare deserves kindness, patience, and a little time, and nothing more complicated than that. In the night, be present and calm. In the morning, listen if the child wants to talk, and leave it alone if the child does not. Over weeks, keep the routine steady, keep the evenings calm, and keep the stories and screens gentle close to bedtime. If the nightmares happen almost every night for weeks, or if the child is afraid to sleep, or exhausted in the morning, talk to a health professional, because help exists and asking for it is sensible. But for most children, most of the time, a nightmare is simply a frightening dream, and it will pass as the child grows. The child will learn, as we all learned, that dreams feel real while they last, and that waking up brings the real world back, steady and safe, ready for a new day.

I would tell a parent who asks about this to trust their own calm. You do not need a perfect answer at three in the morning. You need a soft voice, a soft light, and a few minutes of your time. Sit with the child, show them the room, and let the fear fade on its own. In the morning, do not make a big fuss about the dream, and do not dismiss it either. Ask, if the child wants to talk, and listen. Then let the day begin, with play, with movement, with regular meals, and with time to talk about the day. Those ordinary things, repeated day after day, are what make sleep steadier and dreams calmer. A child’s nightmare is not a problem to be solved in one night. It is a part of growing up, and growing up, like sleep itself, takes time, patience, and a steady, loving routine.

I also think it helps to remember that a child’s nightmare is often a sign of how much the child is learning, not of how much the child is struggling. A child who dreams about school is a child who is thinking hard about school. A child who dreams about friends is a child who cares deeply about friends. A child who dreams about a parent is a child who loves that parent with all their heart. These are not problems. They are signs of a growing mind and a growing heart, working through the world in the only way a dreaming brain can. When I think about it that way, I feel less worried about children’s nightmares, and more respectful of them. They are part of the work of growing up, and growing up is hard work, even at night.

There is one more thing I would say to a parent, and it is about the long view. The nightmares that feel so large when a child is four or five usually become smaller as the child grows. The child learns more about the world, the line between real and imagined becomes clearer, and the feelings become easier to manage. That change does not happen in one night. It happens slowly, over months and years, as the child grows, as the routine becomes steadier, and as the child learns, night by night, that a frightening dream ends and the morning comes. A parent who is calm and present during those nights is teaching the child something that will last far beyond childhood: that fear passes, that safety returns, and that the dark is not the end of the story. That lesson, learned in a small bedroom with a soft light on, is one of the most valuable lessons a child can carry into adult life.

In the end, I think a child’s nightmare deserves the same response as any other part of growing up: patience, kindness, and a steady routine. Be there in the night, be calm in the morning, keep the evenings gentle, and let the child grow at their own pace. Most nightmares will pass on their own, as the child grows older and the brain learns more about the world. If they do not pass, or if they make the child afraid to sleep, ask for help, because help exists and asking is sensible. But for most children, most of the time, a nightmare is simply a frightening dream, and it will end when the child wakes up, even if the feeling takes a few minutes longer to leave. The morning will come, the room will still be there, and the day can begin again, with play, with learning, and with the quiet confidence that comes from knowing a bad dream is only a dream.

Frequently Asked Questions

When is “why do kids have nightmares more often” most noticeable?

It often feels stronger when the day before has been irregular, busy, or full of late light and noise, and it often feels weaker on calm and regular days, which is why the days around it matter as much as the moment itself.

What do people notice first when they ask “why do kids have nightmares more often”?

People often notice the timing first, then the feeling that goes with it, and then how the next morning feels, and putting those three observations together usually makes the pattern much easier to see and to describe.

How is “why do kids have nightmares more often” different from one day to the next?

It can differ from one day to the next because no two days are exactly alike, and differences in sleep, meals, movement, weather, and mood all leave small marks on how the body feels, so a little variation is normal.

Can “why do kids have nightmares more often” feel different for children and adults?

Yes, it can feel different for children and adults, because their bodies, schedules, and daily demands are different, and what is ordinary for a child may look quite different in an adult, which is why age is always part of the picture.

What makes “why do kids have nightmares more often” easier to understand in plain words?

It becomes easier to understand when it is described with real examples from daily life, such as a busy weekday when work runs late into the evening, because a real day gives the idea a shape, and a shape is easier to remember than a bare definition.

In simple words, what does “why do kids have nightmares more often” mean?

In simple words, why children’s dreams turn scary describes a normal part of how the body moves through rest and waking, and it is best understood by looking at the whole day, including light, meals, movement, and the evening hours, rather than by looking at one single moment on its own.

Sources

• NHS — general health information: https://www.nhs.uk/
• World Health Organization — health topics: https://www.who.int/
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — health information: https://www.cdc.gov/
• Mayo Clinic — general health information: https://www.mayoclinic.org/
• Healthline — general health information: https://www.healthline.com/