Waking Dreams for a 3 1/2 Yr. Old

I don't think anything from TV is really causing it. My 2 1/2 year old is in a stage now where she has been doing the same thing about3 times a week. I ask her what woke her up and she says it was her "friends", or stuffed animals so I don;t know. We just get her when she wakes up and put her bed wiht us and she goes right back to sleep. I am just trying to go with it, wait it out and be there for her for this "phase" (and she is a good snuggler so I kind of ike it when she wants to sleep with mommy and daddy.

Maria, Shoshawna has the right idea. My 3 1/2 year old daughter is autistic so she has to wind down completely or she won't go to bed at all and I'll end up having a tantrum from her. What I've done is an hour before bedtime or so, no tv. The kids have to play quietly. I also have a 1 year old. This has worked very well for me and it helps the kids to wind down. We also have a bedtime routine that helps. Hope this helps. Good luck. By the way, it may be a little rough at first, but will eventually get better.

My son just turned three and we've noticed a connection between his horrible nightmares and sugar after about three in the afternoon. If he is having anything with sugar in it you may want to try cutting it out after a certain time of day.

Any foods (especially rich ones )too close to bedtime can result in bad dreams. There are a lot of other triggers as well. . Is this a "new" situation? If so, he may be experiencing some negative feelings about the upcoming change in your household. If he has recently moved to a new bed or changed pre-schools he could be feeling some anxiety that he doesn't know how to express.

We have a routine that I started with my first child (who is now 14), and it has worked exceptionally well. We selected a special stuffed toy who we gave magical sleeping powers. Whenever a bad dream showed up, it was the animal's job to chase them away. My oldest only slept with her animal (a neon green tiger) when she was feeling a little uncomfortable about something. My youngest, who is now 7, sleeps with Simba every night. My youngest daughter also sleeps with a nightlight. She has had the greatest problems with sleeping, but when we keep to a routine and make sure that bedtime is calm and soothing, she does much better. I have also found that the nighttime lotions and bath gels really do seem to help ease her into sleep. I think Johnson's makes one brand with chamomile and other soothing herbs.

Good luck.

Three is the age for nightmares. Just reassure your little one. Apparently some kind of dangers and scary things become real to a three year old when they were not fully real before.
The brain is maturing which is a good thing. You also may have a really sensitive child. You are doing all the right things. Just put him back to bed with a cheerful smile, after he calms down, and don't make a big issue of it. By four it will be something else, like insulting language, that you wish would go away. Happy days with the new baby. I wish I were still young enough to take care of babies. But my five all turned out fine.

I had night terrors as a child, which, believe it or not, is caused by lack of sleep and being overtired. It seems as though the child is awake, and crying and screaming, but they look right through you. There is nothing you can do but let their brains work it out.

Have a decent bedtime so he gets enough sleep. Have a good routine so he can wind down. My daughter brushes her teeth, goes potty, puts on her pajamas, etc. Then we read a story or chapter from a book, say prayers and (I can't stress this enough), I put her to bed and sing a lullaby (kids don't care what your singing voice sounds like) and kiss her good night. Usually she's asleep before her head hits the pillow. Little kids need to be put to bed, they can't go by themselves until they are older. My mother never figured this out so I'd stay up until 10:30 or 11:00 and then have night terrors.

Good luck!

Mackenzie has the same problem and I asked her doctor. He said it tends to happen when kids don't wind down properly before bed. It usually indicates their brains aren't ready fo bed and they are still stimulated while they sleep, causing the dreams. It doesn't necessarily have anything to do with what he watches, just how he winds down. Establishing a bed time routine and a quiet down ritual has helped Mackenzie a lot. We haven't had an episode in 2 weeks!

Hi Maria

I had the same problem with my 2 1/2 year old for like 2 months - we found that it was tied to the benadryl I was told to give him for allergy issues. We noticed during that time we had the same issues if he got to hot he would wake up. How we decided that it was the benadryl was that we talked to a friend who had the same trouble with her son when he was taking the benadryl and once they stopped it the issue was over - we stopped the benadryl and have not had any more issues. don't know if this really helps but at least you know you are not alone.