When Did Your Child Start Having Nightmares and Were They Scared of Everything?

Yes, this is normal. My daughter did the same thing. We tried everything! I don't know what your religious feelings are but, what ended up working was praying over her everytime she started screaming in her sleep. She doesn't have them anymore, but they ended completely when we started to pray over her for Jesus to protect her dreams before we even put her down to sleep. I am sorry if I offended you or your religious veiws, but it did work.

Hi I am so sorry for your little ones worries. You need to look at her diet, I am sure you are avoiding all caffinated products. Chocolate (cake or cookie) (hence caffine) is the number one symptoms of nightmares. No joke caffine creates nightmares... Try it sometime and you'll see. Do you ask her about her dreams maybe she is remembering them. That is why she is afraid of everything now. If that is the case and they are really bad, she may have night terrors which they say are worse than nightmares. Had a friend with a son that had them he started at age 4. I'd see a child specialist. Nothing is worse than not being able to help. Good Luck and Give hugs and kisses V.

Hey C.,

My name is L., I'm a registered pharmacist, and have two children, ages 9, and 10. Both my kids are emotionally and physically very healthy and have had virtually no nightmares since birth.

Since you are a SAHM, I assume that your daughter is not in any form of childcare during the day.The next thing I'd look at is the diet. What types of things does she eat, breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks?....and what are "diago" fruit snacks?....i'm not familar with those.

I work as a pharmacist in the Gainesville area, and have a home-based business of nutritional counseling and promoting a whole-food supplement called Juice Plus.

I hope I can help you.

L.

My kids all had the same thing - from what I've read in medical journals, it's when the child first begins dreaming. So of course the images seem real & they don't understand that it isn't real. Often times they won't remember anything they saw, they just know it was scary. Comfort her , maybe even move to another room to lay back down with her. Talk to her & tell her it was a dream, just her mind telling her stories but it isn't real. Nothing is going to hurt her & you are right there. When she has calmed back down, take her back to her room & lay her down. Stay for a few moments to calm her. Sometimes leaving a small lamp on or leaving the door open helps. My kids were all terrorfied - they do get past it pretty quick & once they understand that it isnt' real, it's just a dream, they can usually go back to sleep. My oldest had to lay with me in the living room until she felt calm enough to go back to her bed. And there is nothing wrong with letting her lay down & sleep with you, as long as it doesn't become a habit. Breaking them of that is alot harder than helping her understand dreams!It is a phase & she will get past it - all of mine did it in different times. My oldest was the hardest, it took a few months, but my boys were ok after a few weeks. Best of luck & I hope she gets through it quick!

My son is 18 months and sometimes murmurs things in his sleep. He is a little scary cat though. He gets scared of the doorbell, he acts like someone is after him when he hears it or when someone knocks. He literally screams and tries to run and starts to shake. The only thing I can think would make him such a scary cat (the doorbell isn't the only thing) is that I play monster with him. I chase him around and things like that but he usually laughs about it. I think he is a little nervous child. I haven't spoke to the pediatrician bout it but now that I'm talking about it, I think I will.

Yes it's a phase, believe it or not they put away little pieces of information and put it together in their heads while they are sleeping. Use a night lamp, so she feels more secure, and see if you can get her to talk about the dreams. Take more interest in the actual subject of the dream (if it's birds then start educating her on how fun and beautiful the birds are) It could have been just a commercial. My daughter freaked out about a bubbles commercial. We did bubbles the next day. My brother in law was afraid of a cat commercial. It's amazing how these little guys process things. And worse it might be a billboard or picture she saw. So who knows, just make it okay for her by making it not scary anymore. Good luck, Jen

Hi C.:
Don't worry.. I think most of us mommies can tell you that it is normal. Best you can do is confort her while she is going through this stage. Try making sure she has a nightlight. Show her how you are able to hear her through the monitor (and if yours has the option talk to her through it... make her feel that mommy and daddy are just afew steps away. I used to tell my first daughter who dreamed of monsters... Monsters only exist in movies and books and if you let them come into your dreams then just ticle them and they become funny and nice people. (it worked for the most part although she did tell me one night the monster she dreamed of was not liking the tickling...poor thing) My second dreamed od an elephant coming to get her. We talked about it several times at day time and I tried conforting her but it was not working. Finally one night she kept on saying that she could see him so I asked her to point it out so daddy could go get it. She pointed at the window where we could see the top of the gas grill out in our patio. It had a cover on it so it looked like the top of an elephant. We then took her outside and showed her what she was seeing laughed it off and have never seen that elephant again. What I am getting to is that it is normal and you just have to talk them trough it... It muust be rough since you were already sleeping through the night... but beliee me , it does get better.
Good luck