Why Is My 2 Year Old So Afraid While Sleeping?

Night terrors are a sign of neurological development. Its totally normal. My guess is they are happening at roughly the same time every night. For us, when my DD got them we soothed her each and every time. She always had them between 9-10pm, like clockwork though sometimes she wouldn't wake up and was screaming so badly we thought she might be a part of Nightmare on Elm St. I'd be exhausted if it was several time a night too. Maybe call your Ped about how to handle lots of night terrors? Or do some more googling on night terrors. GL!

We've had this problem with our son off and on. Soemtimes it is just becasue we didn't close the closet door. He also does much better if we leave the light on. We also leave a radio in his room playing music all night, something like instrumental or christian rock, it tends to be more soothing and you don't have to worry so much about the content. Anything could be scaring him. When my son first saw Monsters Inc. it sacred him, hence the reason he needs his closet door closed. Also, sometimes it is a toy he has. Even if you haven't let him see a scary movie or something like that, it doesn't mean someone else hasn't. I caught my in-laws letting my son watch Jurasic Park movies when he was 2! And every now and then my husband doesn't think and watches something scary with the kids around. Just because it doesn't scare some kids it still could scare yours. When my son does this I comfort him in his room, this way he is not in the habit of sleeping in mine. I also do not lay down with him. I sit by his bed, rub his back or putmy fingers through his hair, and talk to him. We discuss what is scaring him, and I let him know (when it applies) that it is just pretend not real. I do these things til he falls back to sleep, then I go to bed. My mom used to read us a story and sing church songs with us, when we were old enough, she taught us how to comfort ourselves this way. It worked great, I still use the technique when I get scared now.

A. - when my (now 8 year old) daughter was around 2 or so, she suddenly developed some crazy fear based on a dream or something. We got up together and found her most "fearsome" stuffed animal (her choice - I think it was a bunny). I explained that when I was a kid, I slept with a Pluto dog. And when I woke up scared, I would snuggle Pluto and he would keep the bad dreams away. I told her that when you're wide awake in the day, they look like toys, but at night, they are there to protect you from bad dreams and bad feelings. Worked for her.

Another thing you can do is get "Monster Spray" or "Bad Dream Spray". Go to the store, get a cheap spray bottle and put water in it. If you want, add some food coloring and maybe a drop of vinegar. You and your son spray it in places monsters or bad dreams might hide. Ask him to show those places to you and explain the smell makes the bad things stay away. I don't know how well it works as I've never done it, but have heard others say it was a huge help.

Find out what he is scared of. It can become a habit after a bad dream for him to start doing this, whether afraid really or not. Try monster spray, a spray bottle filled with water to spray under the bed and in the closet. If he cannot explain what he is scared about it is hard to help him and tell him that.

Try glow in the dark stars and planets or even something like a dream catcher (my mother in law gave my son one and he is really cool thinking it takes all his bad dreams). Your son already has the habit and has started waking himself up. Yes it is the time of nightmares but he needs to learn that it is okay and don't let him use it as an excuse.

Read happy stories before bed, do reward chart for staying in bed, only leave the door open a crack too. Tell him if he gets up over and over it will be shut all the way again. He sees he is getting attention from saying he is scared, then he will not stop doing that. They are smart at two! :)

Reassure him once, but not over and over again. I think you know him well enough to see if he is really scared or using it as a crutch to stay up or get attention. Be firm, but compassionate about him just not allowed to get up, period. He senses change is about to happen with a new baby too so could be seeking extra attention. Hang in there, stand tough and united with your husband, do not lay in bed with him to fall back to sleep, be sweet and loving but firm and empower him to be a big boy! :)

First, I'm not sure why you would lock your kid's bedroom at night so he couldn't get out. There are so many safety issues with that one, besides it seems cruel to me. I'm glad you aren't doing that anymore, but he shouldn't have to BEG for you to leave the door open. I would imagine that could be part of the problem. So, has he seen something that would scare him, like maybe a scary movie? One that might not be scary to you, could be to him, Monster House comes to mind. We just had Halloween, so there are lots of things that could be freaking him out. Just walking through the Halloween section at Wal-Mart can be scary to a 2 yr. old. He may not be able to tell you what is bothering him, but I would still comfort him when you can tell he is scared. He is only 2. It's not a bad thing to stay with him and help him fall back to sleep. It's not even a bad thing to let him crawl in bed with you when he is scared. If he is waking up but not scared, you can just take him back to bed, sing him a quick song and rub his back and help him get back to sleep. Have you tried one of the night lights that you put on a dresser or night stand that spin and show cool shapes on the ceiling? They give the kids something to focus on instead of a dark room to help them fall asleep. Just put yourself in his shoes, what would you want your mommy to do if you couldn't sleep? Just be loving.

One of my sons has completely freaked out about something, similar to what you describe, but not over sleeping alone. I still haven't figured out completely what to do. :) I'm so sorry. With it being over sleep, you are really in a bind. Maybe coming up with stages to slowly get the distance back before June will help with the bad habit part. If he's genuinely scared, do what you feel he needs, and deal with slowly breaking the habit it may form after the fear has been dealt with.

Respond to your son's fears. Not doing so will not help ease them and may make them worse or may lead him to not trust you for help. My son is a people person and he's slowly but surely weaned off of needing my husband or me for comfort, all on his own, in his own time - at about 2 years old. Your son is just beginning a tough time for him, one you don't understand, but is exactly because of the lack of understanding that you must just be there for him.

Children can start having nightmares at age 2. Instead of locking him in (which I imagine would be so scary), well, with my own I always soothed them back to sleep. Yes, we again have had to transition our daughter back to getting back to sleep on her own, but we know when she comes to get us now that it's usually because she's scared and has had a nightmare (the latest are the scary cracker people...? lol...poor baby). I have always used a babygate at night and that has worked well for having her call for us. She can crawl over it now so we don't use it, but things are going fairly smoothly. With the same experience in the past with my other two children, I know eventually they stay in their own beds (unless they've had a bad nightmare and come to get us!)