Ollie's nearly 4 and has started having nightmares. 3 nites on the trot. Not too severe but still bad enough for him to wake screaming and wanting to come to bed with mummy & daddy. Seems to be about different animals comming after him. Anyone else had this?
My son slept on the lounge for about two months after watching Tarzan movie ( the kids one). There is a black panther in it which really freaked him out and he would have dreams about it being under his bed. He felt better being closer to us for a while so I let him, how could i say no? Dont worry, it will pass.
sometimes the avents of the day has an effect on their dreaming fears etc...... try reading funnny kids books or sweet ones etc,, or chats before bed with bi g cuddles will help them to go to sleep dreaming about something nice,, plant the seed so to speak ,,,
My DD1 kicked off the nightmares (with a few night terrors mixed in) around her third birthday. I canvassed opinions about how to get rid of the monsters off all my friends and tried them all - it took 2 months to stop them waking her every night!
We told her that house rules were that no monsters were allowed. We prayed to Jesus (coz he's her friend but to monsters he's big and scary, you know). We gave her a torch and told her monsters were scared of it. We read a fab book "Under the Bed" every night (you can get it off Amazon - the monsters under the bed are scared of the little boy in the bed). We made up rules about the monsters, so they couldnt do things like get her when she was in bed (she still wears a hat and gloves some nights!). If she got really scared then I'd pull the camping mat by the side of her bed and lay on it, holding her hand "for ten minutes" ie until I could hear her breathing was calm and she was going off to sleep again, then I'd kiss her goodnight and go back to my bed.
I think around this age their imaginations kick off but they have some trouble learning to tell the difference between reality and fantasy, and then reigning it in. I still remember making up a rule when I was a kid that if no part of me hung over the side of the bed then the monsters underneath weren't allowed to get me. I just tried to comfort her and then teach her ways of controlling them.
I think sometimes you just have to say things enough for them to believe you - with us it was two months worth. Also, this two month spell came off the back of two previous months bad sleep (a cough, heatwave and asthma primarily) and I think this sleep deprivation can make them more prone to nightmares etc.
Hey there. You say that sleep deprevation makes them more prone than that makes sense. Tnx for that. I only said to my Husband that Ollie needs to have an early nite as he has been staying up late for the last several nites. Not really really late but not as early as I would like and later than he is used to. Then with waking up 2/3 times a nite with the dreams. Bless him. I think its early nites for a while. Tnx for the advice everyone.
My son used to wake up scared quite often, compaining about monsters. After a few times, we realised he was scared of his curtains. When the heat went on, the curtains would blow around and he thought there was a monster.
So I took him to the vent when it was on, and let him put his hand over it, so he could feel the air and understand that it wasn't going to hurt him. I also put his little lego table over the vent, so it would block the air from blowing the curtains too much.
Anyway, maybe it's something simple like that. Try and ask him where the monster is, and what about it scares him. It could be something easily explained.
We do reassure him a lot and he calms down quickly and gets back to sleep soon after. Funny, last night we read a story from a book we borrowed from the library so that might have triggered something. I think its happy stories for a while. The odd thing is that he was never scared of much and loved to be scared himself. We used to turn of all the lights and play ghosts. But thats changed so we will see how we go. I might try the dream catchers, sounds good!!
Hi their my 5 year old he has night mares to and they always seem to be similar like animals chasing him normally they are dinosaures but the thing is he absolutly loves them he collects them, he kicks and screams when he has a night mare i just go in their most the time he is asleep when i go in his room but i still give him a cuddle and sit their for 5 minutes or so and rub his back and ask him if he wants a drink and that.
First of all trying to figure out what causes it can help - watch what they are watching, reading etc... and avoid anything that may contribute. We find though that is things you would least expect that cause them, so you can't always pick it.
We give lots of cuddles and lie down with our son when it happens. For him though it affects his bedtime as he remembers and does not want to go to bed. So we have a special "monster" or "tiger" spray (with sleepy aromatherapy smells) which we spray and we give him a torch to hold. If he 'sees' anything scary we come and kick them for him! We take it seriously and reassure him that we would not let anything harm him
hi hun , my 3 yr old daughter has night mares quite often,
dose you rlittle fellow watch any shows wuith animals in it before bed that might be a bit scary for him, or is there an older sibling that could be scaring him.
just be there and comfor t him. we got a butterfly dream catcher for Jess and i also had dream catchers for my boys.
a night lite, dream catcher or specail toy or teddy that tkes away bad dreams might help.
Any contributed content above is the subjective opinion of that member or external author, and not of Minti.com Pty Ltd. If you are searching for health related advice we strongly suggest you seek professional medical support. View our Terms of Service for more details.
. The odd thing is that he was never scared of much and loved to be scared himself. We used to turn of all the lights and play ghosts. But thats changed so we will see how we go. I might try the dream catchers, sounds good!!
to and they always seem to be similar like animals chasing him normally they are dinosaures but the thing is he absolutly loves them he collects them, he kicks and screams when he has a night mare i just go in their most the time he is asleep when i go in his room but i still give him a cuddle and sit their for 5 minutes or so and rub his back and ask him if he wants a drink and that.
