nearly 3yo DD - suddenly started having nightmares

[LeilaA]

My DD who is nearly 3, has always been an amazingly good sleeper. The last few nights though, she has been waking up crying saying she is scared of the bears (we read "Going on a Bear Hunt" which really freaked her out). This is so not like her, and she's usually pretty sturdy about stuff. Last night, she slept in our bed, as she was begging me. Any advice as to how to handle this would be really gratefully received

Thank you!

Erm, don't read Bear books before bed? Sorry - couldn't resist. Seriously though, our DD1 has always been very sensitive to what happens at bedtime (and she's a great sleeper too), so if there is something, like a scary book, that upsets her, then best to keep it as a 'downstairs toy' (its a rule that works well for us - keeps most things from migrating upstairs as well). If its just that book, then problem easily solved, just keep the really gentle night night type books for upstairs.

If its happening more often, and there isn't anything else recently changed in her life (eg starting pre-school, new baby etc), then she may be getting scared of the dark, and a very dark nightlight could help (we have this, and DD1 still sleeps really well, and hasn't woken up scared at all since we got it). Also, at 3, she's probably old enough to reason with - eg if she's scared of a bear, you can have a look round the room with her and chase the bear away with your magic wand (coathanger or something?!).