miss elena has been coming into our room the last few nights and wanting to sleep with us. from the time she was 3 months old up until california - we had never slept together. e was in her room. in her bed. jason rolled over about 3 or 4 am this morning to find elena's upper half on our bed...sound asleep. this was the 3rd night in a row. he scooped the rest of her up and got her situated in the center of our bed and there she slept. this morning when we woke up for the day i asked miss elena why she is coming into sleep with us every night and she replied,
"so that the snakes won't get me."
i am so sad for my little girl right now. there have been several other nights where she has woken up crying, we run in there and she is facing the corner of her bed (think blair witch project) just crying. she's clearly having nightmares and i want nothing more than to make them all go away.
i have been having nightmares as long as i can remember having to sleep. i can still remember some of them i had as an older toddler. and even at 30 years old, they are horrible. it makes me so sad to know that she might suffer from pointless nightmares effecting quality sleep, which could spiral into more harmful repercussions. i believe my nightmares are caused from restless leg syndrome, which often triggers them. i know nightmares in children are much more common, but if anyone has any suggestions to make this better, i'd really appreciate it.
"A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor's book." ~Irish Proverb
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5 comments:
I have no suggestions, I never really had nightmares but I was always scared a lot as a kid. I think the thing that helped for me is that my mom would lay me down, and rub my belly, back, or leg, and calm me down and talk really slow and calm about my guardian angel watching over me, and that I was safe. I remember feeling totally relaxed and at ease when she did that. But, I was older, more like 6 so she may be too young to rationalize herself down too. Good luck and keep me posted.
With Landen we made a dream jar that he sleeps with in his pillowcase. It is a little tiny bottle that we filled with glitter (white with moons and stars). We told him it is filled with good dreams and the while catches the bad dreams and makes them disappear. It is a small fib on our part (of course I didn't tell him I made it--he thinks I ordered it off the internet) but it gives him a bit of security and has helped IMMENSELY with bad dreams. It is something to try. Also try "snake spray." Small spray bottle filled with water with a drawing of a snake with a big red X on it that you and Elena can spray around her room to make sure the snakes stay away. Might help her feel proactive about protecting her sleepy time and help her feel better about sleeping alone in her room. Hope this helps a little.
Aw, poor thing. I am sorry she's having nightmares! We have had that issue a bit with Ellie, too. She always talks about a bumblebee that comes into her bed. She'll ask us if the bumblebee is gone, and I am always reassuring her that the bumblebee went back into the woods to be with his family. What about looking for a book on snakes or a book about a nice snake? Maybe go to the pet store and look at the snakes and how "nice" they are?
Hi, I'm Sandra a friend of Heidi's....BTW I love your blog and can totally relate to everything on it having a 3 1/2 year old of my own! Regarding the nightmares...how late to do you feed her before she goes down to sleep? I've read before that if you feed your child a little too late that it triggers nightmares...just a thought!
Oh no Mol! Poor Lanie and poor you for having to see her go through that. Well, I can relate a little. Shayla comes in our room every night at 2am to sleep with us and will scream if I bring her back to her bed. Of course it makes for a total restless night when she sleeps with us so I totally know how you feel there. She isn't having nightmares though and I can't imagine how it must crush you not to be able to help her. Shayla just wakes up and walks in our room and gets in our bed. I think she has a little seperation anxiety at night...Anyway, I really hope you can help her get rid of them! Oh and I have always heard not to use night lights in their room. Make sure it's completely dark. Don't know if you do or not, but just a suggestion. Good luck!!!
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