How to Help My Twin Boys 4Yr Old with Nightmares

I don't know if I saw this on TV or a movie but... take a spray bottle (water gun) fill it with lavendar water and tell them it is a magic potion that keeps monsters away. They can even help you make it so that they are involved, like creating a witches brew. Spray that before going to bed and hopefully they will feel safer. The lavendar in the water should help them relax. Good Luck!!

No matter how hard i tried to explain that there was no monsters, my then 2yr girl wont listen. So I told her that monsters are afraid of cats and dogs. It also helps that my dog will bark at nite if she hears something outside of our house.
IF she heard a noise at nite i told her it was either the cat or dog patrolling.
In addition, to a nite lite. It took a couple of times but she stop waking up and tring to sleep with us.

I also heard of putting water and a bit of smelling stuff in a spray bottle and spraying the room before bed to keep the monsters away.

you know i also read somewhere that one mother told her kid that monsters only live on sesame street with the other monsters like elmo. both of my kids did this but they were younger. i got nightlights (2 of them for each room) and i also leave their doors cracked open about 1 foot. i also make sure that i pray with them to not have bad dreams and to "take away everything that i'm scared of" (helped with my daughter who was probably about 3 or 4) and i also have music on for my son who is almost 3 to drown out noises around the house during the night that might sound scary. they both now sleep thru the night mostly. very rare that they wake up. also i have given them glow sticks to sleep with bc i considered a flashlight but the batteries die and also in the middle of the night if they are scared then they might not think to turn on the flashlight or forget how to.

hth
Stacy, mother of 1 girl 5 and a boy 3 on july 31st

Hi R.,

My son is 3 1/2 yrs old and is going thru that now. All I do is when he runs in my room at 3am in the morning, talks in his sleep or cries out loud, I reassure him it's ok, the monsters and lions are gone, and that he is safe now. I don't tell them they are not real, because they are to him, and it's only when he awakes, does he realize it is not real, but the trauma is what he needs to get over, so I reassure him and let him sleep in our bed until he feels "safe" again. Sometimes I put him back in his bed and other times I let him sleep with us. I think it's a normal part of development.

A friend of mine once told me this idea. Get a can of room deodrizer and cover it with some kind of paper (construction paper, contact paper, etc.) and relabel the can "Monster Spray". At bedtime tell the boys you are going to use the spray to keep the monsters away and spray it under the beds, in the closet, etc. To them the monsters are real and therefore the "repellant" is too. I never had to use this idea but my friend said it worked great. Good luck.

Is this a relatively new phenomenon in your house? Did it seem to coincide with your husband being away? If so, perhaps their subconscious minds are trying to work out Daddy's absence. Try providing reassurance about Daddy's eventual return, maybe even have Daddy send a note or call and TELL them that he did "x,y & z" to keep them safe while he is away. Be sure that you don't create a scenario that the "monsters" can get past the defenses Daddy put in place. Maybe, since they have already "seen" them, the monsters can only get close enough to scare them, but not hurt them... or something like that. Then, you can do the bottle filled with scented water thing, to make them leave...

I've heard the spray bottle idea works...

Do they have nightlights? Maybe you could even give them small flashlights or booklights to shine on whatever they are scared of, so they realize it isnt a monster. Assuming they don't sleep in the same bed, you could tell them it's ok for them to get in the same bed together if it makes them less scared. I have 4 year old twins too (but mine are boy/girl) and sometimes my girl sneaks into bed with my boy when she's scared. You could also tell them if they need to come into your room, to bring a pillow and blanket and quietly (without waking you up) go to sleep on your floor. Trust me, I cant give up any of my sleep either!

Hi R., I do know what you feel like right now. I have 6 and 4 yr olds who do the same thing. I don't know if you go to church or not but I have a bottle of Holy Water. I did have a priest bless it at one time but now I just fill with water and bless it myself. When the boys have bad dreams or get scared, I go in with the water and sprinkly it around. They like me squirting it all over their room, feel better because it has to do with God and fall off to sleep in no time. Hope this helps. L.

Hi R.,

These ladies had some good ideas. I just want to throw one more thing out there that hasn't been mentioned yet.

Laundry detergents,as well as bath and body supplies contain or ARE neurotoxins and they over-stimulate. They cause the mind to race. Because these chemicals are synthetic they will build up in the system and get worse with time. My youngest daughter was diagnosed with ADHD and her diagnosis was removed by the doctor when I removed the synthetic chemicals from the house. She also had nightmares and slept uneasily in her toddler years (she was a perfect infant as far as sleep and habits). After we detoxified the house, she began sleeping through the night again.

This may or may not be an issue but I know that it is not where most moms thoughts go when children's behavior changes. It is a real issue and will only get worse with time if not understood early. The immune system generally fights these types of things off but with constant exposure, the immune system weakens and symptoms occur.

Detoxing is simple, inexpensive and a easy first step in good health. Let me know if you'd like more information, I'm an open book! :)

Regards,

M.
www.squidoo.com/ifyourbabycouldtalk

Hi. There are wonderful pure, therapeutic grade essential oils that I work with by Young Living that help with exactly this! Peace and Calming is wonderful for putting them to bed. Will calm the nerves and promote feelings of relaxation. Valor is a wonderful blend that promotes grounding and feelings of courage, confidence and self esteem. Very powerful oils. Only a drop or two on the bottom of the feet will help immensely. Let me know if you want more info or would like to order some for your kids.
Good Luck.
S. F., Holistic Healer, Massage Therapist/Reiki Master. Raised 2 children, 12 and 9 now with no toxins, no drugs, no vaccines. Just homeopathy, chiropractic, massage, essential oils. ____@____.com

Although I explained many times to my 4 yr old that there are no monsters...What finally seemed to help was that I got a plastic spray bottle in his favorite color and decorated it with a picture of a fraggle looking muppet thing (with a red circle and a slash through the circle) and NO MONSTERS written on it, and filled it with mostly water and a dash of febreeze. I presented it to him, told him it was monster spray that kept monsters away, etc...Now before he goes to bed he sprays it wherever he thinks monsters could be lurking and he no longer has nightmares. He especially likes to spray the windowsills and the doorway to keep his entryways inaccessible!Hey, whatever works!!!!

My youngest told me that there was a tiger in his room (there was one in the hallway of my childhood home, too...)
and so I went into the room and told him that the tiger was/is his "totem"...and further explained that the tiger was there to protect him while he slept. Then, I asked my son to name the tiger. And he said "Lucky"...
well, shortly after we went to roomstogo to pick out a new bedroom set; and there was a larger-than-life cardboard photo of a tiger. We both got so excited to find a picture of "Lucky"...of course we took it home.
He's now 15 and still has the tiger in his bedroom.
Moral of the story: take your fears and turn them into magic. You can create whatever your heart is yearning for.
Many blessings, S.