Okay, so here's the deal... My "just turned 6" year old daughter has begun waking up three, four, five times a night because she had a " bad dream" or is "scared". I usually walk her back to bed and lay down with her for five minutes and then return to my bed. I reassure there's nothing to be scared of, I am (most of the time) not mean or threatening. She might complain of a scary dream or tell me she's scared of her closet or her dresser. I do not let her sleep in our bed, since I can't sleep with a wiggleworm sticking her elbow up my nose while I sleep! I suggested we use "monster spray" (I'm sure a lot of you have heard of that), but she explained to me that it wouldn't work because the monsters aren't real, they are just in her head. HA! What a smart little girl! So I'm out of answers ladies.... what more can I do so that we can all get some sleep? The poor thing is exhausted and I am too! We also limit TV, especially around bed time and monitor what she watches closely. Please help!
Thanks for all your input everyone. We do have a night light on, we leave her closet door open as she requests, we leave the bedroom open and she falls asleep with the hall light on. We have a "dream journal" where I write what she tells me about her dreams and she can draw pictures. **sigh** I might try the homeopathic medicine. Hopefully it works, even if doesn't physically work, maybe it will work as a placebo. Feel free to keep throwing ideas out... I'm willing to try anything at this point!
Have you tried any relaxation tapes, or music of any kind to settle here down. This might work out alittle bit. keeping the music down low that is.
ahhh my just turned 6 year old does the same thing. i have no answers just wanted you to know you are not alone! it is frustrating because everyone is so tired! i have tried many things but have not found a solution that works for any amount of time. best of luck.
Maybe teach her a couple of prayers she can say:
Guardian Angel Prayer:
Angel of God,
My guardian dear,
To whom God's love commits me here,
Ever this night be at my side,
To light and guard to rule & guide.
Amen or even add something about help me to think of good things and not to be scared...... Amen
Or make up your own. Say it to her until she memorizes it then say it together before she falls asleep.
Hi M. If this continues, take her in to see her peditrican to make sure there's nothing physically wrong with her and maybe he/she can give some professional advice.
Saw something on Little Bill the other day that we are trying with my almost 3yo. On the show, they gave Little Bill what they called a "magic quilt" (we are calling it a "happy quilt" as we aren't into magic). They explained why big kids don't get scared because they know how to think about happy things to cover up the scary ones. It seems to be working for us, more or less. We also say a prayer that for happy dreams. This might work for you especially since she knows that they are in her head. Good luck.
Give her some information about how her imagination works and that she can learn to control it. Tell her to avoid looking at scary things , she may even be mature enough to know what they are. If not, ask her what scary things her imagination thinks of. Tell her she can talk to her imagination and tell it she is tired of being scared and she wants it to think about lovely things. Then feed it some pretty pictures at bedtime, or family album pictures. Tell her that during the day if she starts to think of something scary to try thinking about something else. She may have to avoid some TV shows until she gets a little older. Also, you can teach her how to think about those things, eg "I know that is not a monster in my closet but just a shadow. I am safe in my home."
I'm in the same boat! My 6 year old (girl) seems ever since she could get out of the crib on her own has been getting up in the middle of the night atleast 3-4 times a week. It's usually for no apparent reason, so I put her right back to bed. On occassion she'll say it's a bad dream or she is scared. I'll normally lay with her also for about 5 mintues.
What you might want to try is a dream catcher. It's worked in the past for her twin brother and her. We tried the monster spray and that worked for a time. If it gets really bad where she won't stay in her bed, I have her sleep on the floor in our bedroom. I refuse to have her sleep in our bed, she is like sleeping with a fish! Good luck!
Have you tried a night light or leaving her closet light on?
since she is old enough to "know" these are just make believe in her head have her draw some pictures each night to get them out of her head before bedtime. also a suggestion from a friend was to leave the closet door open at bedtime so no chance of anything hiding lol. also something that always woke my middle son up was if he was cold. so maybe make sure she is warm enough. good luck
Do you let her eat or drink before bed? If we let my son eat or drink within an hour of bedtime he has nightmares like crazy. That might be something to look into.
Two things you can try - they work, are safe and homeopathic. Go to your natural food store, or go online and buy Moon Drops sold by historicalremedies.com or many other sites also sell them - they are a yummy soft lozenger - give her one before bedtime, will help her sleep through the night. Me and my kids take them and they work excellent (awesome to take on long flights so your kids can get some rest). Another product you can also try (newer to us) is called: No More Monsters (the box I have says herbsforkids.com) as their website, but I picked these up at the local health food store; also homeopathic totally natural this product says: For the temporary relief of nightmares, dreams of monsters, fear of the dark, night terrors and occasional sleeplessness. These things WORK and are safe.
You also need to acknowledge her fears -do not tell her she is just imagining things. You may not see things, but your kids might - I have kids that can see 'the other side' and it is very real and sometimes scary. The worst thing you can do is make them deny what they truly are seeing/experiencing. There is too much to say on this topic, and won't divert at this time - just work on those things.
I'll suggest two things that have worked great for us -
#1 go to the library and do some research on books about monsters and dreaming. I'm sure you'll find something good that is age appropriate - what kid hasn't gone through this?
#2 remind her that SHE is in control of her dreams. That IF she gets scared or wakes up from a "bad" dream, that she can control the outcome. She can try to fall back asleep and punch the monster in the nose, or maybe the monsters are like the wicked witch and she can melt them with water. Or maybe you can come up with some other "monster repellant" that Mom's know about - like a "cryptonite" for monsters? Maybe it's a kiss? If she blows them a kiss, they turn nice?
#3 get Daddy involved - tell him that he's going to meet her in her dreams tonight and HE'LL take care of the monster.
#4 use distraction. Tell her YOU are going to meet her in her dreams before she goes to bed. Meet her to swim with dolphins, go to a water park or some other adventure, then talk abut it at breakfast. This has helped make getting to sleep fun in our house.
I hope these ideas help!
