Children are more prone to be influenced by their dreams, especially nightmares. They are easy to fall prey to illusions and are quite vulnerable to other aspects of dreaming too. A young child waking up screaming and crying and the middle of the night due to some nightmare they experienced is not an uncommon sight.
Usually, these nightmares are recurring and are, more or less, of the same type. Given below is a list of the most frequent and common nightmares that are experienced by kids, the reasons behind them, and what you, as parents, can do in order to make sleeping a peaceful affair for your kids.
The most commonly occurring nightmares:
The scary ghost:
This is the most common type of nightmare. It usually involves your kid being scared by a ghost or demon that is pretty unreal. This may happen due to the fear instilled in your kid. It may also be because of an unpleasant experience during their day which comes back to haunt their tender minds at night.
The solution to this is simple. Keep an eye on what your child sees or watches during the daytime. Pull them away from watching horror movies or listening to scary stories. Never miss an opportunity of making it known to them that ghosts aren’t real, but only a product of the human mind.
Creepy and crawly bugs and insects:
The science behind this type of dream is that they usually occur when your kid has been running away from something for plenty of days on end. It can a person, a place, or even nothing as trivial as multiplication tables of homework. It can even be mundane tasks like cleaning up or brushing their own teeth.
This can also happen due to the fear of creepy and crawly insects. Establish a ritual every night where you and your kid clean and dust the child’s bed so that they can see for themselves that it is rid of all types of bugs and insects.
Being left alone without care:
These types of nightmares may happen if your kid doesn’t feel loved enough or secured in their parents’ vicinity. It is their most dreaded nightmare that one day, their parents will leave them alone to fend for themselves, and they will not be able to manage it.
Show your kid that you are around and present for them, whatever the situation may be. Involve yourself in most of their activities, as your time permits, and you will soon see your child drifting away from the recurrence of this nightmare.
Falling from a height:
The nightmare where the dreamer feels like they are falling from a height and are soon going to crash into the ground, but wake up with a jolt, is pretty common. And scary. It usually deciphers that your kid is losing control of their surroundings.
When they feel nothing is going as per their demands, they end up having this nightmare. The easiest way to get your child rid of this scary dream is to make them see it in a different light. Tell them to try and fly the next time they have a nightmare like that.
Being chased and unable to escape:
This is, perhaps, one on the list of the most commonly occurring dreams or nightmares. It almost always occurs when your kid is desperately trying to run away from a particular person, but fears that they will catch up sooner or later.
Now that you know the reason behind the nightmare, find out who or what it is that your kid is running away from. Look out for reasons for your kid to fear or dislike that person or situation, and address it in the gentlest of ways possible.
No need to be scared of nightmares
Nightmares are scary, no doubt, but this issue can be resolved with proper care and understanding. Address the reason behind the nightmares, and your kid will never have to worry about scary dreams ever again.
Remember that children are easy to manipulate, and hence you can make the best advantage of it. You can use various tricks and tactics to help your child fall asleep quickly. Distracting their thoughts and filling their mind with happy ones is the most effective way to go in addressing recurring nightmares.
