OT - Scared kids at night

[lmcdo02]

I'm a softie, I always used to let them come in with us. Then when they were asleep, back they would go in their room. They got over it pretty quick, and it never really became a habit.

Sometimes I would just sit on their bed until they fell back asleep. I think they just needed a little comfort until they calmed down from whatever woke them up in the first place.

 

[Perditamarie]

We also never let kids in bed to sleep with us. When my daughter was 2 or so, she would wake up and need to be comforted. I would hug and soothe here and then bunk down on her floor until she fell asleep again...she was able to settle right down because she knew I was there and she usually did not wake up again. This lasted 3-4 months and when the problem went away, we weren't left with a new one to solve (ie: how to get child back in their own room). A flashlight is also great.

 

[Steph9072]

***I hope this is not offensive to anyone, I just want to share what worked for us****


My dd started having nightmares after my Granny died last year. She was terrified that her Daddy and I would die. She would wake up screaming. Finally, after trying everything I talked to our Pastor who suggested having Holly add in her bedtime prayer a thank you for taking Granny to heaven so she wasn't in pain anymore. Also, asking Jesus to allow Holly to have only good dreams and to take her bad dreams away. If she woke up at night we would say a simple Dear Jesus please take away Holly's bad dreams. Dear Jesus Please allow Holly to have happy dreams. We love you Jesus AMEN. Slowly the nightmares got fewer and fewer and now we may have one once every two to three weeks if at all but usually after watching something on TV that scared her. We use the same prayer and it is off to dream land she goes.

 

[Not so Dumbo]

***I hope this is not offensive to anyone, I just want to share what worked for us****


My dd started having nightmares after my Granny died last year. She was terrified that her Daddy and I would die. She would wake up screaming. Finally, after trying everything I talked to our Pastor who suggested having Holly add in her bedtime prayer a thank you for taking Granny to heaven so she wasn't in pain anymore. Also, asking Jesus to allow Holly to have only good dreams and to take her bad dreams away. If she woke up at night we would say a simple Dear Jesus please take away Holly's bad dreams. Dear Jesus Please allow Holly to have happy dreams. We love you Jesus AMEN. Slowly the nightmares got fewer and fewer and now we may have one once every two to three weeks if at all but usually after watching something on TV that scared her. We use the same prayer and it is off to dream land she goes.

This worked for DS7 when he was little. He's very strong in his faith.... always has been. DS4, not so much, no matter how much I try to stress it. I just can't get Jesus into his head.

 

[Steph9072]

This worked for DS7 when he was little. He's very strong in his faith.... always has been. DS4, not so much, no matter how much I try to stress it. I just can't get Jesus into his head.

Keep trying! Don't give up faith is too important in my book!

 

[Brier Rose]

We always let both kids sleep in the bed with us, but when that became too uncomfortable we did the air mattress beside our bed and that worked great!

Now DS is 8 and been sleeping in his room fine for awhile, but still has nights he feels a little scared. We just moved in a new house, and he also seems to be going through a stage where he's worried about burglars, etc.

What works for us is walkie talkies. He knows we can "talk" at the push of a button, and that seems to make him feel more secure.

 

[ilovejack02]

***I hope this is not offensive to anyone, I just want to share what worked for us****


My dd started having nightmares after my Granny died last year. She was terrified that her Daddy and I would die. She would wake up screaming. Finally, after trying everything I talked to our Pastor who suggested having Holly add in her bedtime prayer a thank you for taking Granny to heaven so she wasn't in pain anymore. Also, asking Jesus to allow Holly to have only good dreams and to take her bad dreams away. If she woke up at night we would say a simple Dear Jesus please take away Holly's bad dreams. Dear Jesus Please allow Holly to have happy dreams. We love you Jesus AMEN. Slowly the nightmares got fewer and fewer and now we may have one once every two to three weeks if at all but usually after watching something on TV that scared her. We use the same prayer and it is off to dream land she goes.

AWWWW thats awesome, what good advice your Pastor had!

 

[badblackpug]

The flash light idea works great. She can go to bed with the flashlight and when she is scared shine it on the "things" that she is afraid of, so that she can see they are not really there!

 

[the Fidge]

I have always tried to make my son be a part of his own room, making it a palce that is comfortable and soothing. So I had him pick out things that would help comfort him at bedtime. He loved Veggie tales cd bedtime songs by Junior the asparagus.

I beleive a good routine helps too, reading and prayers is a ince ending to a day. I taguht him to tkae Jesus with him to bed and there is nothing in his dream that Jesus can't take care of!!!

That being said...we still had some issues, I would go in his room with him, lay down and talk to him about a nice palce to dream and told him I would go with him. I would ask, so shall we go to the beach and make a sandcastle tonght?? THen I would tell him all the sights and sounds and smells there and how would be building a sandcastle together. This seemed to work really great for us.

Bringing my frightened child into my bed never botherred me, DH did not appreciate but he got over it just like DS got over his nightmares! There are justr some nights that having the securtiy of a parent is what he needed and I don';t think thats a bad thing. Now when you know they are playing the game.....then I draw the line gently, bringing him back in and surruonding him with his soothing items and CD and a read always helped.

Good luck it doesn't last very long compared to all the nights when they are all grown up you will never worry about their nightmares.

 

[eianson]

Thanks to all for the comments and suggestions. We tried a few of the “softer” options: lights on, sleeping at the foot of the bed, staying with her until she fell asleep. However, the more of these things we tried, the more it felt like it was a game she was playing to see what she could get away with (she is at a very manipulative stage). I suspect, if we let her sleep in bed with us, there would be some other “perk” she would push for next. After a couple of exasperating nights, we decided to try some “tough love”. We told her she had to sleep in her own bed (we did provide some comforting words), then offered to leave the hall light on with the door open, we promised to check on her every few minutes and left the room. She screamed for a couple of minutes. Then we went back in and calmed her down (again, there was not a sense of true panic in her, so we were a little suspicious) and this time we told her if she didn’t calm down we would take away one of her stuffed animals. We again left the room. She wimpered for about 15 seconds. Within 5 minutes she was out cold. She woke up crying during the night. We took her to the bathroom and then put her back in bed. She again protested that she didn’t want to sleep alone, but we just laid her down and she went right back to sleep. The last couple of nights have gotten progressively easier. She is still fusing a little and waking, but less frequently and with very little crying.

We tried to be the good cops, but sometimes I guess you need to be the bad cop to get results.

Thanks, again to all.

Eric

 

[LynnTH]

My DD is 5-1/2 and I can probably count how many times since she moved out of her crib into her bed that she actually slept there. Her bedroom is more like a place to hold her clothes and toys. We have had nightlights, left hall lights on, bribery. She just does not like sleeping by herself. So, everynight she sleeps with her 7 year old brother. He has a double bed and has not kicked her out yet. I think he likes having her there too. She still comes into our room during the night occassionally, but that's Ok. (I figure they're just little once so I don't mind her coming into bed with us). But, for the most part she is good with her brother.