Help! Our 5 Year Old Is Having Night Mares!

Well, yes this is a normal time in life to start having nightmares, however, obviously that doesnt really help the situation much. When my daughter was 4, she started having nightmares, and we finally figured out that she was having bad dreams about the scary organ falling down in "Beauty and the Beast Christmas" movie. I would have never thought that a Disney movie would scare her. Then she started being afraid of a CSI commercial that she saw, and it went on for a little while. We really had to start paying close attention to everything at that age with her, so I would recommend that as a start. You would be surprised at what they hear or seen in just one minute that could set this off. Also, we made a special place for her in our room on the floor that if she did need to come in, she had a safe place without bothering us much. We also gave her a flashlight in her room to use if she ever needed it, read good books before bed and encouraged her to try to dream about what might happen next in the story, and then she could tell us about it at breakfast. Of course we are big believers in prayer too, so we talked about how she could ask pfor Heavenly Father to give her good dreams and that if she woke up, she could pray again. Finally,I seem to remember that we sprayed her pillow with "good dreams spray" and bought her a dream catcher to hang by her bed to trap the good dreams for her. It sounds like a lot, but really we got through it relatively quickly and unharmed:) Good luck to you!~A.~

Hi, J.. It is tough to see our little ones scared. I suggest getting him to tell you what happens in his dreams. Maybe you can figure out what they are linked to if you know what they are about. Also, I do recommend prayer, and include your son. Judging by your post, you are a very religious family and your son sees that you reach for God in a time of need. He will feel like he is taken seriously and like someone powerful enough to help is on the job. Hope this helps!

Hi J., my five year old has also been having bad dreams on and off the past month. What I do is pray with her every night and it has really helped. I pray outloud and she repeats everything, maybe your son is really excited with his new soccer class and it turns into dreams that are a bit scarry? This has happened to us before even when our daughter has had an overly active day like a birthday or something she has had a bad dream just out of plain exhaustion I think. In our prayer I say things like "Jesus please let us have beautiful dreams with beautiful kittens (my daughter loves cats) and horses and the beautiful ocean, you know things she loves and it allows her to go to sleep thinking of peaceful things she enjoys, it has really helped her.

Good luck.

Has your soon been feeling well? I have noticed when I have my daughter on over the counter medications it causes her nightmares.

Dear J.,

We are also believers. It sounds like you're doing great things like praying with your kids about their sleep. Each night we pray with our kids and pray for God's protection over us all and over our dreams. This has helped alot to cut down on bad dreams.

From a physical side, sometimes kids can have blood sugar drops in the night and cause nightmares. Or, as someone else mentioned, otc meds and RX meds can cause nightmares in children and adults. I've read that to help blood sugar issues, giving a child a piece of fruit or a glass of milk can help prevent that.

Hope this helps.

Blessings,
A. S.