Rain! Rain! Go Away!

Have you tried playing music to hide the noise of the rain and covering the windows? My daughter now 12 went through this, good news they out grow it!! But she still won't sleep with the blinds open rain or not. Good Luck

Honestly I have never heard of this. Usually kids sleep better in the rain it is relaxing. You cannot reason with a 2 yr old but maybe try to make a game of the rain. or have him go outside for a sec so he can see that it is just water.

Have you tried letting him listen to music? My almost 7 year old has been listening to music since he was born... We started him off with lullabies and then it went to newer stuff as he got older. Try it. maybe it it will help!
Another thing I thought of was a fan. I know that some doctors use them to block out the noise and to keep conversations private. If you put a fan near the window it may block out the sound of rain.

Give these a try. Hope it works!

Peace and Blessings,
K. J.

yep, some kind of sound machine or music in his room should help. At least during the drizzles anyway. During a thunderstorm, not much you can do but be in the room with him and hope he falls asleep that way.

You must be exhausted too. Try some music or one of those radios that eliminates white noise. Good luck!!

I would put on his raincoat and go outside and play in it! Make the rain a fun and positive thing.

Hi K.,
I agree with the mom who said to try and make the rain a positive thing...my son had just turned 3 when we had Hurricane Charely make a big mess at our home. After that he became very afraid during any little rain storm....the first chance I got we went out and played in the rain (when not dangerous, of course) and splashed in the puddles. We acted like absolute nuts, sang it's raining, its pouring, tried to drink the rain and were completely silly. He was never afraid again....rain became just water, thunder became just some rumbling that helps the rain fall....you can fix this, just be creative. Sound/music/noise I'm sure could help hide the rain, but I really think you take the fear away and make it his friend. We also put a rain gauge in the yard and let him check it and dump it after every rain to see how much was in it...he thought that was a big deal. Now my youngest one is 4 and we plant a garden every spring from seeds and the rain gives our garden a drink, the birds a bath, etc... I think after Hurricane Charley my kids seem to focus more on weather than the average kid, but it is all how you creatively lead them to feel...mom's have a lot of influence...you'll fix this! Good luck!
A.

K., you said you tried to explain that there is nothing to be afraid of, but it seems he is afraid. What is he concerned about? Sometimes small people take things they hear offhand literally, and we don't know they have taken things to heart. It may take some just sitting or laying around time to find out what he is afraid of, but once you know, help him to conquer his fears.
One thing about fears, they are real, and telling someone not to be afraid does nothing to allay fear. It has to be looked at and faced, examined, worst outcome discussed, worked through maybe more than once till the fear is over.
Maybe what you need to do is go outside and run around in the rain when it is raining (without lightning of course). Understand that it is his fear, he owns it, and you can help him overcome it because you love him. Good luck. Barb

My oldest daughter was 7 years old when hurricane Charley ripped the roof off our house, and it rained into out living room. She turned 8 with in days of the hurricane. She had a very hard time sleeping with the rain, and still does sometimes, and she is 12. We tried several different things. We tried the radio, we allowed her to have a TV in her room to watch movies, we tried sitting in there and reading both children's books and eventually the Bible. I prayed with her and encouraged her that although our home was destroyed God protected us and he will continue to protect us. None of these worked as well as climbing into bed with her and cuddling. Most nights I would sleep before she would. Daddy would always wake me before he went to bed. Even now she ocasionally wakes to the rain and will climb into our bed. They are only young once and although I never let my babys sleep in bed with me, there is nothing like a tramadic event to teach you that life is to short to worry about schedules and habits. Who cares if he won't go to bed unless you lay with him. I promise before he gets out of high school he won't want you cuddling with him at bed time. I say this because my daughter is in the seventh grade and although it may only be once a month she still wakes to the rain and is scared, and I am OK with her still being my baby at 2 AM when she is scared. She now listens to her Ipod at bed time even if it is not raining so she has no problem going to bed even if it is raining.

Hi K.,

It sounds like there's some connection he's made between rain & fear, and you may/may not ever figure out what that is.

Meantime can you show him how you and/or your husband go to sleep? We play-act going to sleep for our toddler so that she can observe what that looks like. It might help for you & your son to watch daddy get in bed, turn off the light, close eyes, get comfy etc while it's raining outside. Dad could even say "night night rain", stuff like that. HTH!

Try lying down beside him in his bed and softly singing to him until he goes to sleep. If you fall asleep with him, that will be OK. I did this with my children - had 4 favorite songs - and they carried it on with their own children.

I would definately have a sound/music machine that you use EVERY day/night...not just when there is rain. Otherwise he may not sleep well due to the combination of the rain and the noise (music) that he isn't used to. A good fan will make white noise as well.
I would avoid CIO totally. He is already stressed and has anxiety about the rain and to make it worse by leaving him to cry alone would in my opinion be making his anxiety worse. You may have to backtrack now and try making him more comfortable and build a sense of safety during what he finds fearful. He might see the idea of rain as doubly stressful by being scared and being alone. Try to help him through this :-)

Hi K.,

So sorry to hear that you are struggling. I havn't had experience with this exact situation but we have a big fan in our son's room (26 months) and keep it on all night - facing away from him if it is cool out and on him when it is warm. The point of the fan is that it drowns out all of the noise in the world - it is amazing. We have been using it since he was a baby and I have been in there when there have been big storms, loud movies and doorbells and it blocks it all out. I am sure a sound machine would work too but we like the extra benefit of the fan keep the air moving. just a thought.
good luck, M.

I would suggest taking him in the rain so he can experience it. Maybe get a fun umbrella (my son has one that looks like a frog)and some boots so he can jump around. When he uses water (ie: bath, washing hands, watering plants)talk about how rain is just water.
We make a big deal about rain at home. Whenever we hear it raining outside, we talk about it and be sure to look out the window and see what is getting wet.

Good luck.

I agree with Barb D . We used to take the kids puddle stomping when we lived in VA. It is harder to get to the puddles here ( Dang sandy soil). But if you can find some, grab some umbrellas and make sure you put the towels by the door before you go out. Let him stay under the umbrella if he wants. They also make the cutest rain boots now , you could keep them special for your time in the rain. Find a good sized puddle and see who can make the biggest spash. You can also see how many jumps it takes for you to stomp a puddle till it doesn't splash any more ( simple counting practice). You can count the worms that come to the surface to keep from drowning. You can look for rainbows. You could also show him animals that like the rain. Ofcourse you should go in if there is thunder and lightning.
Good luck , I have one that Hated thunder at that age. We would Cheer "Thunder Boom" in excited voices to show him he didn't need to be frightened. He loves a good storm now , the flashier the better. We still go out on the back porch to watch the "light show"

My daughter is going through the same thing and has been since last summer. And let me tell you, that was a long summer! It always seemed to be storming at bedtime. She's now three. Just last week it started thudering right before I put her to bed. She would not leave my side; she was cowering under my legs most of the time I was trying to get them ready for bed. Finally I had an idea: make some noise in her room so she couldn't hear the thunder. So I got a clock radio and put it in her room on the jazz station. I pressed the sleep button so it turned off in an hour. She LOVED it! She kept thanking me the whole next day and saying it made her feel so much better. Her Nanna got her a CD/radio alarm clock for her birthday a few days ago. Much better than the radio b/c the music is more soothing and there are no loud, blaring commercials. It was by far her favorite present. Now she listens to a soothing lullabye cd every night when she goes to sleep. Although, I'm thinking about stopping this and having the radio only "work" when it's raining. Then she'll have something to look forward to whenever she sees it's raining.

Hope this helps!