{"id":1663,"date":"2014-07-14T03:34:04","date_gmt":"2014-07-14T10:34:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.enannysource.com\/blog\/?p=1663"},"modified":"2014-07-14T03:34:04","modified_gmt":"2014-07-14T10:34:04","slug":"put-a-stop-to-nightmares-tips-for-soothing-your-child-to-sleep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.enannysource.com\/blog\/index.php\/2014\/07\/14\/put-a-stop-to-nightmares-tips-for-soothing-your-child-to-sleep\/","title":{"rendered":"Put a Stop to Nightmares: Tips for Soothing Your Child to Sleep"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.enannysource.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/childnightmares.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-1664\" alt=\"childnightmares\" src=\"http:\/\/www.enannysource.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/childnightmares.jpg\" width=\"200\" height=\"299\" \/><\/a>Those bedtime stalls with pleas for water, cuddling or just one more book can be frustrating as a parent or nanny, but they can also be a sign that your child is having nightmares and is fearful of falling asleep. Nightmares can be frightful for your little one and cause resistance at bedtime.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen your child has a nightmare, he or she is trying to process something they perceived as negative the previous day,\u201d says Lauri Loewenberg, dream expert and author of <i><a href=\"http:\/\/www.lauriloewenberg.com\/dream-books\">Dream on It: Unlock Your Dreams, Change Your Life<\/a><\/i>.<\/p>\n<p>Unlock the root of the problem by learning how to soothe your child to sleep and fully understand the nightmares he or she is experiencing.<\/p>\n<p><b>The Dreaming Process<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Although it would be ideal for a child to dream only of sugar plums and fairy tales, the reality is that many children face their greatest fears when they close their eyes at night. \u201cDreaming is a thinking process,\u201d says Loewenberg. \u201cIt is a continuation of the thoughts that went through your mind during the day and once you go to sleep and enter the REM (the dream state), your thinking shifts from the literal conscious mind to the symbolic subconscious mind.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>If something troubles your child at night, you can bet you\u2019ll find the culprit by examining your child\u2019s previous day. Did she experience a disappointment, punishment or confrontation with another child? Talking through your child\u2019s problems prior to bed can help put his or her mind at ease before falling into sweet slumber.<\/p>\n<p><b>Nightmares Unveiled<\/b><\/p>\n<p>If you find that your child\u2019s nightmares sound familiar, don\u2019t be surprised. Many children experience some of the same fearful dreams as a natural part of child development. Some of the most common dreams include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><i>Getting Eaten:<\/i> According to Loewenberg, this is especially common for very young children. \u201cWhile we, as adults may say, \u2018You\u2019re so cute I could eat you up,\u2019 to a young child, that is a frightening thing to hear,\u201d she says. \u201cIn addition, so many of our favorite fairy tales involve cannibalism, such as Hansel and Gretel and Jack and the Beanstalk.\u201d For older children, this could mean something is really eating away at them, says Loewenberg, such as bullying or taunting by classmates or siblings.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><i>Getting Lost:<\/i> For very young children, this nightmare is pretty self-explanatory, says Loewenberg. Malls, parking lots and airports are very congested and busy places. \u201cIf your young child gets this nightmare, there\u2019s a good chance your child was at one of these locations the day before,\u201d she says. \u201cFor older children, getting lost may be more about feeling out of place in school or they may be dealing with a tough situation and are feeling \u2018lost\u2019 as to what to do about it.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><i>Getting Kidnapped:<\/i> This nightmare is more common for older children and reflects their awareness that someday they will be pulled out of the safety of the nest and be out on their own, says Loewenberg. \u201cThe kidnapper is life and growing up,\u201d she says. \u201cLess often, this nightmare is caused by something disrupting the child\u2019s normal daily routine, which could be anything from a new baby in the family to a divorce.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><i>Monsters and Witches:<\/i> These common characters terrorize a child\u2019s sleep, most often when the child gets in trouble the previous day, says Loewenberg. \u201cAn angry, yelling parent is as ugly and frightening to a child as a monster,\u201d she says. \u201cHowever, the monster can sometimes be the dreaming child\u2019s perception of a bully, a strict teacher or a taunting sibling.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Putting a Stop to Nightmares<\/b><\/p>\n<p>The most effective way to get the ghosts and goblins in your child\u2019s dream to scram is to re-write the end of the nightmare, suggests Loewenberg. \u201cOur dreams are a creation of our own mind, therefore we can recreate the dream or nightmare to our liking \u2013 even children can do this,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s all about taking control of a situation that made you feel powerless.<\/p>\n<p>If your child is struggling with nightmares, ask him or her to draw what was scary in the dream. Then, have the child re-write the ending to how they would like it to end or redraw the scary monster into something silly and benign. \u201cLet your child come up with the changes,\u201d says Loewenberg. \u201cThis is not only a fun and creative activity for the child, but it desensitizes him to the fear and gives him a chance to feel powerful.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Those bedtime stalls with pleas for water, cuddling or just one more book can be frustrating as a parent or nanny, but they can also be a sign that your child is having nightmares and is fearful of falling asleep. &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.enannysource.com\/blog\/index.php\/2014\/07\/14\/put-a-stop-to-nightmares-tips-for-soothing-your-child-to-sleep\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enannysource.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enannysource.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enannysource.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enannysource.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enannysource.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1663"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.enannysource.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1663\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1665,"href":"http:\/\/www.enannysource.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1663\/revisions\/1665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enannysource.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enannysource.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enannysource.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}