My 4 year old has horrible nightmares at night when he has things to eat or drink, other than water, after 6pm.
My mother says my brother did the same thing. As long as we make sure he doesnt eat he is absolutely fine.
I have tried to look up information on this but I cannot find anything.
All my other mommy friends havent heard of it either and think I am crazy and there is something else wrong with him. But I know for a fact he never has nightmares unless he eats after 6.
Has anyone else heard of this or dealt with this?
I guess I just want some reassurance..
Keep a food diary. I know if I eat bad food (cookies, ice cream, etc..) I have bad dreams. He may have an intollerance to something in a food item he is eating so this is where I'd start.
I do not have any medical proof for you, but personally I always had nightmares as a kid and sometimes still do whenever I eat anything that is too sugary or heavy before bed. Chocolate is the worst. I could have a light snack like a few crackers, but if I had a big old piece of cake I would have the weirdest nightmares. When I was a kid, it was very scary. I just figured the sugar was making my brain work overtime and crank out these weird dreams. Hope this helps.
You are not crazy. When I was a child I had the same thing, not really nightmares, but VERY weird dreams that were directly associated with what I ate. My mom called these dreams "colly-wobbles", which is the name my grandma used for them. If not feeding him after 6:00 does the trick, then stick to it. You're doing just fine.
You might be right about the food after 6 pm. But have you heard of night terrors? My younger daughter had that for about a year and I think that was triggered by her bladder. Anyways, it went away as it came.Hope you find your answer,
Have a great day A. K.
keep a log of what he's eating, when and how he sleeps. if you are honest with your book-keeping you will have the empirical evidence you need for reassurance. or you could just not feed him after 6.
good for you for your confidence in your own knowledge of your own child! too many moms succumb to what other moms think of them.
keep doing what you know your child needs.
you rock.
khairete
S.
I remember there was the old "oh, he must've had too much pizza last night" answer for disturbed sleep. Heard it a lot as a kid, so I kinda took for granted that it was true....I haven't sought out definitive medical proof, but it makes some basic common sense not to eat greasy, sugary, or heavy foods right before bed because your body has to break it down and process it. You need a couple hours to do so, or I would think it could disturb your sleep.
I totally believe its possible! Eating can trigger his brain to continue on with activity and make it harder for it to come to a resting point for sound sleep. By allowing a gap of time between eating and sleep, his body can digest the foods and get itself into "rest mode". Being over-tired, over-stimulated and sick are also things that can trigger the nightmares.
You are not crazy. this can happen to kids. Also adults may sleep less soundly if they eat too close to bedtime. The only exception to this they say, is drinking warm milk before bedtime. It relaxes you. I like warm rice milk or soymilk. AF
My son used to do this. Now it seems like sometimes he'll do it and sometimes he won't. For us the food cutoff time is 7pm and we don't allow anything after except a small drink of water if he's been running around a lot. For us it's not really bad, and I never looked up anything medical about it-probably b/c my parents and in-laws both agreed that his foods could be affecting his dreams, but wanted to let you know you're not alone!
