my 6 year old has bad dreams?

Question

Almost every night my 6 year old has scary dreams, usually something to do with something happening to her older or baby brother or us and she cant stop it. I don't think its an excuse to get up or into my bed as i hear her calling out while shes still asleep. Its getting so bad now she will try her hardest not to sleep as she is afraid and she believes if she says outloud 'no dreams' everynight she wont have a bad dream. I worry, what can I do?

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Answer 1

Children often hallucinate while unwell- bad dreams often accompany illness. She could actually have a gift, and many who do have the gift always see the dark side of life rather than the good.
It doesn't mean what she says will happen because dreams come in puzzle boxes waiting for us to piece together.
As a child I remember telling myelf to remember certain things and I did. It has left me with the conclusion that maybe we all dream of our future but forget it as it becomes archived in the madness of accummulating memories, that's why we get the feeling of de ja vu.
You have an advantage of observing and even studying to see why she has them.
Hopefully the dreams will diminish and she won't be dogged by them for long.
Did you know chocolate can give us nightmares and so can cheese, maybe cutting these out for a little while might help?
I dunno, but a really good way to help is to play soft music so her mind will take in the music as she sleeps-it can help a lot actually, a really low volume and a dimmed light so not in dark.
God Bless You and yours

Answer 2

I had reoccurring nightmares for a couple of years as a child. I heard or read about a way to remember your dreams vividly which will help the person deal with whatever is bothering him/her. If you write down your dream, or in your child's case tell the dream, the moment you wake up you will remember dreams much better which will help the reoccurring nightmares go away. It really helped with me and now I remember almost every dream I have. It took some time, but it did work.

Answer 3

Make sure your little one isn't watching tv (especially adult-content shows like CSI or Law & Order) in the 2-3 hours before she goes to bed as these can trigger nightmares in little ones (heck, even in adults too!) as their minds wander back to them while they're asleep. Avoid caffeine and sugary drinks before bed. Try having her drink a glass of water or milk before bedtime, as this prevents scary dreams tied to dehydration.

If these don't work, sit down with her before bedtime and say, "I'm going to start a story for you and you have to dream how it ends." Tell a story about a unicorn or something fanciful that she will like. At about two minutes into the story, have her close her eyes and try to "picture the story in her head." Spend only about 4 minutes telling the story and end it at a particular climax like "And then she met a friend and they decided to go to the park. Now, sweetie, what happens next?" Have her keep her eyes closed and tell you a little bit. As she drifts closer to sleep, tell her to just picture it all in her head. This technique worked with my younger brother (11 year age gap between us) when he had a lot of nightmares (but we used power rangers and trucks).

If she keeps having the nightmares, have her tell you about them in the morning. See if there's any recurring images (like picturing her brothers getting hurt). Tell her to recognize it's a dream and that she should wake herself up because her mommy and daddy would never let anything happen to any of their children. If you keep telling her this every time she tells you of a dream and before she goes to bed, she can train herself to realize that she's having a nightmare and can work to wake herself up (this is lucid dreaming).

If the nightmares won't go away, consider taking her to a child psychologist because there may be other issues to consider, but this should help. Let me know if it helps!

Answer 4

wendy, dreams are not the same as hallucinations.

I can think of giving her a "magic" blanket that protects her from bad things. You could probably give her some wild story about it that is fun. Tell her she's really a fairy and with the magic object, she can make the bad dreams go away.

Or something else that makes her feel protected.

If you feel uncomfortable about all this, just tell her that dreams are unreal, they can't harm her.

Answer 5

maybe you can try Chinese's superstition that when ever you have a bad dream you have to turn over the pillow. the downside become the upside.

hope it can help.

Answer 6

Tell her doc, it may be night terrors, or the doc may have a suggestion or two on what to do. Good luck!

Answer 7

try a night lite, a stuff animal friend, a blankie

Answer 8

you could also seek help from a professional and get advise from them.

Answer 9

i think i can help but i need ur email