Child nightmares?

Question

my 8 year old daughter has always had nightmares. she has them at least twice a week sometimes more and this has been all her life. They arent about kid things though..mostly about people trying to get her or that someones outside her window. I have always reassured her that we lock all the doors and windows at night but after so long of them happening my consoling no longer works she still continues to have them..what should i do?

Answer 1

That's natural.

Either she is watching horror movies without you knowing.

She is natural.

OR

She can see what happened in her previous life.

Answer 2

When my oldest son had bad dreams I explained to him that he has the power to control his dreams and he could change his dream any way that he wanted to. So if a wolf is chasing him, he could turn himself into a bear and beat up the wolf.  I was just guessing like you are about what to do, but this actually worked for him.

The same technique has had no effect on my youngest son who has also been waking up because of nightmares, he is 7.

Answer 3

dont make her watch horror movies and buy her a nightlight of her favorite cartoon hero or something

Answer 4

It might be anxiety. People want to believe that children don't experience stress or anxiety, but many times they take on the stress that they see in others, especially if they sense tension in the home. The psyche has was of turning anxiety into nightmares as a way to try and resolve the tension. Try asking her if there's something going on at school, maybe little girl tensions with friends or school work, or maybe she's hearing some things going on in your home that she's worrying about.

Answer 5

My daughter who is 5 was having frequent nightmares. She said that a lady in a long dress was standing by the window watching her. She was more upset than scared. We did a smudging to get rid of the negative energy and she has been fine with only occasional nightmares since.

Answer 6

oh... maybe u check with her if anything or anyone scares her lately?

Answer 7

I would start by asking her why she has these fears...perhaps she has been threatened, perhaps a child at scholl has told her things or it may be something she has seen on tv....

My seven yr old son had simmilar fears, we just asked him if he thought daddy &i would let him be hurt, or leave him alone in his room if it were not safe.

We also locked the house and he and his dad tried to break in, so now he knows no one can get in....make sure the path from his room to yours is well lit so he can come to you without having to walk through a darkened room, and let him sleep with a torch so he can keep an eye on the dark corners that bother him during the night.

Also see if your bookstore has any books on the subject for him to read, this will empower him and make him fel quite normal.

The best advice i can give you is that they do grow out of it, and it just takes patience and understanding to get him through!

Best of luck!

Ariel

Answer 8

I would see if the doctor can recommend anything to help. She might be having what is called night terrors! They are far worse than a regular bad dream. There is medication for that. I would consult with your family physician and they can set up a harmless sleep study to see what is going on with her brain function and patterns during her sleep.

I hope it is nothing serious. Most likely it is not. I would try to bless her room and place an angel near her bed to let her know that her angel is there to comfort her.

A lot of children experience nightmares. It is frightening but, as long as she is not sleep walking or having night terrors she should be okay.

Hope you find some way of helping to resolve this!

Answer 9

I used to have awful nightmares until I started writing them down.  I'd have one and then wake up and think what a good story it would make and write it down.  Before long, I stopped having them completely.  Since your daughter is only 8, it might be better to have her draw them on a piece of paper, or have her tell you exactly what happened in the dream.  Remind her that her dream would make a good scary story - but that it is only a story made up in her imagination.  Remind her that people with good imaginations are responsible for some of the greatest inventions in the world like airplanes, cars and computers.  In doing this, you turn her bad experience into a positive one.

Answer 10

before she goes to bed, check with her under the bed, in the closet, and let her know that is nothing to worry about...check what she watch on t.v, does she eat something before bedtime?...because if she goes full is a problem and if she goes with an empty stomach too. You could read her a fairy tale!!

Good Luck

Answer 11

Hello, I have allways had bad dreams at night and I am 35 years old.  I usually keep the night light on at night so I can rest assure of things. But I would suggest for your child to put mint leaves in the childs pillow maybe two or three. He/She might be allergic. Try aromatherpy oils Ex. Orange oil might help. You can put that on his/her pillow.

Answer 12

It 's normal.

We afraid the things that we did not understand.

Try to explane her and let her mind to salve this problem.

Be careful what she watches on TV.

May be sleeping with her for a mount can be better.

Answer 13

Disruptive sleep problems can cause long term mental health problems, such as anxiety, health issues such as fatigue and a lower immune system,and even seizures in some people. Sleep problems can also cause a person to perform poorly at school or work.

You may want to take your daughter to see a child psychologist. I'd advise against medicating though, unless it's just a safe sleep aid to help her get to sleep.

Answer 14

here are some tips to help with that situation:

Comfort, reassure and cuddle your child.Help your child talk about the bad dreams during the day.Protect your child from seeing or hearing frightening movies and television showsLeave the bedroom door open (never close the door on a fearful child)Provide a "security blanket," or toy for comfort,Let your child go back to sleep in his/her own bed.Do not spend a lot of time searching for "the monster".During the bedtime routine, before your child goes to sleep, talk about happy or fun things.Read some stories to your child about getting over nighttime fears

if none of that results then you should contact a child's physician if you notice any of the following:

the nightmares become worse or happen more often

the fear interferes with daytime activities

you have other concerns or questions about your child's nightmares

Answer 15

Does she sleep with socks on? If yeah then i think she should take them off before going to bed. Also maybe she's stressing about something...you should investigate.

Try waiting with her in her room till she falls asleep instead of leaving her alone to do so.

Answer 16

take her to a dr and  have them talk to her alone to see why she has them/there may be a deep rooted reason she is afraid to share with you the source of her fear which is causing them