DD after car accident, nightmares.

[Godiva]

My DD 5 years old, was in a car accident few weeks ago. Ever since she came back from the hospital she is having nightmares about it. Wakes up in the middle of the night screaming and reliving the events. She got so scared of the hospital just the same.. it is heartbreaking. Please advise what would you do. How would you talk, what would you say? It takes so long to bring her out of the nightmare.. it is like she is talking with eyes wide open yet she does not seem to be awaken for quite a while and then w hen she snaps out of it she calms gradualy..

I tried to do different things before bedime to keep her calm throug the night but it does not seem to work. She sleeps with me in our bed as i can't even fanthom having her in her own room now. Am I doing the right thing?

 

[MrsPete]

That happened to my cousin when she was just about that age. It was even worse for my cousin because her mother was injured badly and was hospitalized. My cousin came to stay with us while her mom was healing (four kids in the house, and my aunt was badly injured -- all the kids were farmed out, but the cousin who came to us was worst because she'd actually been IN the wreck with her mom), and she was constantly afraid that her mom had died and no one told her. She DID get over it.

The one suggestion I have is, WEAR HER OUT during the day. Encourage lots of physcial play, keep her moving so she'll be extra-tired and more likely to sleep soundly. We're hitting good weather now, so maybe a couple times a week you could take a dinner to the park (we did this so often when our girls were small -- DH'd meet us there after work) and let her run herself ragged on the playground.

Good luck. This will pass, even if you can't see it now.

 

[MommyJack]

Sorry to hear about DD. My son has nightmares and sleepwalks (not caused by any specific trauma). I find if I catch him right away it is easier to calm him than if he's been going for a bit. I don't try to wake him. I will talk to him and try to calm him and tell him to go back to sleep. If I get to him early enough, I can just tell him that everything is OK and to go back to sleep and that works. Other times he gets worked up and it takes longer to get him calmed down. It's very strange because he looks and acts like he's awake, he will even respond to me, but he is still asleep.

My son sleept with us and I don't recommend it at all. I started doing this because twice he left the house in the middle of the night. It was the most expedient solution at the time, but in the long run it is a mistake. Once he was in our bed it has been very hard to get him out. He will go in his bed some nights, but it's not easy. If your rooms can be close to each other that would be better.

My guess is that she will get better with time, but I'm no professional.

 

[Desnik]

What you are describing is called night terrors. Both my kids went through this!

We were in a really bad car accident when DD was 8 and she went through the fears, nightmares, night terrors. What helped her was writing/ drawing what she was feeling and what she remembered about the accident. I still have the journal we bought together. We talked to her about writing her feelings or drawing pictures about it and made it a special trip to the craft store to buy a book, stickers, and coloring materials. She worked on it daily and it helped her so much. She also had the school psychologist help her through her fears and they also used drawing techniques. Eventually the nightmares stopped and she is so much better today.

DS had the night terrors after having surgery. It was bad and he would have no memory of them. He would "wake up" crying and talking, eyes open and everything and I would have to just sit with him until it was over and then ease him back to sleep. It went on for a few months and then just went away.

I am so sorry your DD is going through this. I wish I had better advice for you. Have you talked to her Dr about it?