What do toddlers have nightmares about?

[roarfeckingroarr]

Just speculating... my 18 month old has crying nightmares now and then, where it's quite hard to wake him up and he's unsettled for a while after. He doesn't speak in sentences yet so I've no idea what they're about.

Anyone have any idea what they dream about? Massive boobs chasing them? A kid at nursery stealing their toys? Abstract bollocks?

My 20 month old sometimes talks about 'scary monsters'. I've no idea where she's heard of scary monsters from, as far as I know, they're are non in her books or TV programmes so maybe they're straight from her dreams!

Mine went through a phase of nightmares around that age. I remember my DD1 saying monster on the wall, which thoroughly frightened the crap out of me. I think she was dreaming about shadows.

I clearly remember waking up screaming when I was 3 because I'd dreamt my mum was a giant teddy bear and she was chasing me with the vacuum.

So abstract bollocks sounds about right, but scary nonetheless!

I had nightmares as a toddler and remember a couple. There was a repeating theme about running away from huge dinosaurs, which was terrifying. Another was about being stuck in a white room with no doors or windows. There was a rope hanging from the ceiling which swayed back and forth and, as it did so, the rope was gradually getting longer and piling up on the floor, slowly filling the room. Make of that what you will.

Mine woke up crying because a snake had licked her.

Monsters, spiders, “pink wiggly things”, the dark – as reported by DD when smaller. She’s 3 now and I get more detailed descriptions: “a monster was in a hole and trying to drag me into the hole”.

I remember waking up from a terrifying dream about… a fox and a sheepdog jumping over walls in a farmyard. 🤷🏻‍♀️ I was inconsolable and had to sleep in with my mum and dad afterwards 😄

Little brains are so interesting but I can’t make sense of that one.

Broken bananas? Asking for the blue cup and then being given the blue cup?

Isn't it funny how they think about scary monsters even when they haven't really been exposed to them that much, more the 'idea' caught from somewhere, maybe only briefly.

DD at 3 has us running away from scary monsters as a game and he has night terrors ATM. No doubt they are involved.

I remember when my daughter was little she was sleeping peacefully and then suddenly burst into tears.

She said that she dreamt there was a cake but her brother said she wasn't allowed it.

Mine has frequent nightmares about their friends taking their toys. Obviously not very imaginative!

Mine used to say monsters so it's safe to say their dream world was like being in Monsters Inc .🤷🏻‍♀️

My toddler (2.5) regularly wakes up crying about monsters, baffled me for a while as didn’t know where he got it from at all, banned YT kids as a result. The other day I was putting him to bed and I put my phone torch on to do something and it cast my shadow on to the wall and he freaked about it being a monster so I agree with PP, shadows!

When I was little I read gullivers travels and used to have nightmares about the little people tying me down. I was about 4 then

This is really interesting!

He's 18 months and doesn't watch tv so I doubt it's from a film or cartoon. I can't wait until his vocabulary is more advanced and we can have proper conversations❤️

The giant white snail in the bed.

The room with the floors that kept tilting.

The man coming to take me away.

Oh, and being somewhere that was kind of hazy and spinny and my mum suddenly disappearing.

My light coming down from the ceiling to get me. I was fucking terrified of that light. They ended up getting rid of it. It was a beehive-shaped light made from frosted yellow depression glass with flowers pained on it. It would sell for quite a bit on eBay today.

Mine often says the big bad Wolf. He’s terrified of the story/won’t watch the song on babybum etc so it’s not surprising.

My Uncle was terrorised by 'Purple Abdabs' as a kid! No idea what they were, apart from purple.....

My son is 3 now, but I'll always remember the first nightmare he could describe, at about 1.5yrs: "water got to you!" was all he could cry. Did I drown? We'd never been swimming.

Mine woke up because "Daddy ate all my strawberry ice cream"

With mine it was always a lion.

My 3 year had recurring nightmares about bees chasing her at that age. She has never been stung so I'm guessing the kids in her nursery were told to run away from the bees (they have a big garden in there, lots of flowers).

A chicken sitting on her head 🤷‍♀️

DS once had a nightmare. When I went in to comfort him he said 'Don't let the chickens get me mummy'. So I have no idea!