8yo DD recurring nightmares, any advice?

[Indigoviolet3]

My lovely 8yo Dd keeps waking in the night crying and wanting to get into bed with me after having scary bad dreams. I try cuddling and soothing and putting her back to bed but I am really concerned about what is causing these, she has them 3/4 times a week.

Every night when I put her to bed I ask if anything is worrying her, and we chat about the day after stories, then 'scoop' the bad dreams out of her head and replace them with a kiss, but it obviously isn't helping!

Apart from her annoying father (she stays with him every other weekend) who is EA to me but treats her well as far as I know, she doesn't appear to have any other stress in her life, I am married to a lovely man who she gets on well with and she has a 4yo sister who she loves to bits, so home life is stable and happy and she really enjoys school.

Any ideas how I can help her? Thanks

You poor thing, it must be horrid she's having nightmares. Does she watch tv? Could any of it be too much for her or too close to bedtime? I have no experience of nightmares (our dd is 7) but she is easily disturbed by tv and i know this is something that could trigger anxiety fir her. could bedtime setting help? You probably do this anyway but I read with DD, tuck her in and often lie chatting to her or we'll say a short prayer and I always say how much I love her. Dd also is welcome in our room anytime but always sleeps like a log anyway. I do hope someone has other advice.

She does watch some tv but doesn't watch anything inappropriate to my knowledge, and yes we have a nice bedtime routine of drink, stories and cuddles.
One example of a dream is, in her words, "a man had a dog who he loved so he tied it to his heart and told it to stay but it ran off so the man died"
That made me so upset as it's such strong emotions making her scared :(
Another recurring one is that the baby inside me (I'm 15weeks pregnant) has died.
Again, I think she feels secure, I tell her I love her about 50 times a day (I'm quite lovey dovey!) and we cuddle a lot and have good emotional bond, no-one in the family has died recently either.
I do let her get in bed with me if she is very distressed but it is happening more and more often :(

I'm really sorry it must be sad for you when nothing seems to help. She is bound to grow out of it but that won't comfort you either right now and I wish I had an answer. I do remember having nightmares myself a bit as a child and it didn't last and no obvious cause ... Wishing her a kind night's sleep and rest for you too and bumping in case someone else more experienced

Thank you for your kind words :)

You could try getting her a dream catcher… sounds a bit woo but I had horrible nightmares when I was around her age and the dreamcatcher seemed to help. Didn't make them go completely but they were definitely less frequent. No idea how but they aren't very expensive so worth a try :)

I was (and still am) quite a worrier as a child and I think thus often caused bad dreams/nightmares.

My mum bought me some worry dolls which I loved. You tell them your worries and then put them under your pillow. The dolls do the worrying for you!

They could be worth a try.

Hope she sleeps well tonight!