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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

How old are they when they understand they're having a bad dream and it's not real?

9 replies

HunKeRMunKeR · 01/05/2006 23:20

DS1 woke up earlier sobbing, sweaty and trembling, saying "Never, never, never!" - am sure it was a bad dream, but it's an odd concept to describe to a 2yo.

OP posts:

RedTartanLass · 01/05/2006 23:34

Aww wee soul, bet you were as upset as he was.

Sorry no advice.....

LillyPink · 01/05/2006 23:36

Don't think there is much you can explain to a child of two, though my two yr old has never had one, to my knowledge.

Its horrible to think of your litle ones having bad dreams though. DD woke up earlier tonight saying she had a bad dream about spiders, bless her.

RedTartanLass · 01/05/2006 23:36

I remember when ds1 had a high temperature, many years ago,and started to hallucinate. Screaming about the spiders coming out of the wall . That was horrid!

Sorry Hunker, that wasn't helpful either

LillyPink · 01/05/2006 23:36

Sorry, DD 1 woke up.

lionhearted · 01/05/2006 23:36

I think it takes quite some time, DS1 who is 4.6 is just now beginning to understand it some of the time (it works the other way, though, when they have a pleasant dream and wake up demanding to know where the chocolate/new toy went ).

LillyPink · 01/05/2006 23:38

Yeah DD1 is five and knows as soon as she wakes from it that it was just a dream, horrible as it was. (Still gets upset though)

Original poster

HunKeRMunKeR · 01/05/2006 23:41

He's had night terrors in the past - but this is the first time he seems to have been scared by something in his sleep.

I might talk to him about pictures in his head when he's asleep and thinking about nice things before he goes to sleep - he might not understand, but it'll make me feel better!

OP posts:

Elibean · 02/05/2006 08:16

DD woke up crying saying 'no lion noise, no lion noise' when she was just over two - I told her she'd had a bad dream (in the hope it would plant the seed of a concept!) and the lion wasn't real, and everything was ok. She calmed down fast, but like you say it was more to help me than her - I had no idea what went in.

That said, at 2.4 she now tells me she is going to dream about Lunar Jim, so maybe she's understood a little bit.....

ScotsBird · 02/05/2006 13:42

Hunker, I think that they do have dreams at this age, but not sure how you can explain the concept to them. Dd (2.8) came in to our room one morning last week and asked me to check her bum for snails! Apparently she had a snail on her bum and on her tummy - She had been looking at snails in our back garden the previous day so it makes sense that she could dream about them later. The sobbing and trembling is a little more heart-wrenching tho...

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