Toddler dreaming

[llareggub]

My DS is 2.2 and kept us awake most of the night last night following a dream. He explained to me that he was scared of sleeping because of the big frog jumping on his bed.

I can only conclude that this was a dream but try as I might, I cannot get him to understand the concept of a dream. Last night I tried everything to get him back off to sleep, and in the end we all fell asleep exhausted at 3.30am. I tried breastfeeding, sleeping in his bed, him sleeping in our bed, ignoring his cries, searching for the frog, everything. In the end, he slept in bed with DH.

He was genuinely scared!

He has been mentioning the green frog for most of the day and I'm worried we are in for the same this evening. Any ideas on how I can explain the concept of a dream to a toddler?

[purepurple]

my daughter used to see monkeys climbing her wall, and cats too, at a similiar age. It will pass. Dreams are hard to explain but you could try telling him they are just in his head, like stories in books. And that you and his daddy are there to protect him nd keep him safe.

[teafortwo]

Oh thank you for this thread - my daughter (2yrs 7months) tosses and turns in the night shouting then wakes up crying and very scared. She screams "Very scary dream" but can't tell us anythingelse. I am a little worried about her but also wondered if it was normal at this age - I had a theory that their brains are so busy and full of new things they are bound to be having some really crazy dreams at night while everything is being organised up there...what do you think???

[purepurple]

you hit it on the head, teafortwo, it's their little heads trying to make sense of the big bad world. It only lasted a little while for my daughter, she is a good talker so was quick at picking things up, and has a very active imagination. As a toddler she fell over in the garden and shouted "call claims direct"

[llareggub]

lol at Claims Direct! That's hilarious!

So all very normal then. I'll try having another little chat with him to see if I can help him understand.

purepurple, you are really my toddler guru today what with this and my potty-training thread!

[purepurple]

you are very welcome. I only have 2 children DD is 12 and DS is 19 (technically not a child, but no one has told him that yet) but I have looked after children for nearly 20 years so I have a fair bit of experience!

[sfxmum]

dd sees dreams on the ceiling before going to sleep and says she can't possibly go to sleep because she will be scared of bad dreams

she also talks a lot on her sleep quite funny sometimes

[llareggub]

My son talks in his sleep and has also been known to sleepwalk, just as I did as a child!

[teafortwo]

Mmm - thanks purepurple. Your posts are very reassuring!

That is interesting llareggub - my dh suffers really terribly from bad dreams (he once seriously hurt himself because he punched his arm through a window because he thought he was trapped on a submarine and often wakes up in a different place he fell asleep)- I am also wondering if a tendancy to have wild dream can be passed down the family! [rolling eyes emotion]

[CaurnieBred]

How about getting a dream catcher to hang over the bed - that will catch the pictures in his head. We also had a book from the library called "The Kiss Soldier" which basically is a grandpa kissing his finger and putting the kiss on the end of the bed and the wee girl feels much braver as her "Kiss Soldier" is there to watch over her.