Toddler had a nightmare last night & is afraid to go to sleep

[PyjamasandSlippers]

Last night my 3 yo woke up screaming at 3am. I tried to settle her back down as usual (just a kiss & hug) but nothing worked. I brought her into bed with me but she wouldn't sleep & kept screaming every now and again. Eventually I took her downstairs at 6:30 & we started the day.

It didn't get any better in the day today either. She's been very clingy and won't be put down. She wouldn't have a nap & won't even tolerate even sitting on a bed. She wouldn't get in the bath (which she usually loves). She's currently laying on DH's chest trying to sleep.

I just don't know what to do to calm her down. I've moved her into a new bed, she has all her toys with her and I've given her a night light.

Does anyone have any advice? I'm worried this isn't going to be solved quickly

[teacher54321]

Poor little thing, can she tell you what she's scared of? Have heard about people 'telling the monsters to go away' which sounds silly but may help? Hope she's settled off now, maybe try some quiet classical music or a story cd really quietly to help her switch off.

[Shoegal0305]

My son went thru this.

I had a little trinket box, silver and ornate, I managed to persuade him it was a dream catcher and every night we left the lid off for the nasty dreams to go in, then in the morning we made a big thing about slamming the lid shut to trap them......

Worth a go? X

[PyjamasandSlippers]

Thanks for your replies.

I had another bad night with her. I slept in bed with her but every time I moved she held onto to me and cried out.

We've just put her to bed now. We tried to make it fun by doing bubbles in the bath, but she was still hysterical & wouldnt sit down & kept climbing out. We read her lots of stories, but she even refused to sit on the bed for that. The thing is she seems terrified and I just don't know how to handle it. My DH is in bed with her tonight, but he's not usually here so how on earth will I mange this on my own? I also have 1 year old twins to deal with!

She only just turned 3 a couple of weeks ago and is quite a young 3 year old iyswim. I don't think she'll understand scaring away monsters etc. I've tried asking her whats wrong, but she just clams up, so I can't get to the bottom of it.

[BuzzardBird]

Don't do "scaring away monsters", this just reinforces that there are such things as monsters. You are just going to have to let her calm down in her own time.Sometimes dreams are horrible and it takes time to get back to normal. Just be patient with her and please don't let her believe that monsters are real, I see this mistake made too often on here.