3 year old having nightmares and wont sleep alone

[RibenaMonsoon]

I'm really worried about DS.
Initially he seemed to be coping well with lockdown. Especially as DH is off work now so he's enjoying having daddy home.

But he's just not sleeping well anymore. He's waking up with nightmares, trying to sleep in our room. Which we can't really do comfortably as we co-sleep with EBF DD. The beds not big enough for all of us.

I really feel for him. He's missing his friends at nursery which he loves going to. We can't go to the park anymore as it's been closed off. He's not regularly seeing nanny, grandad and his cousin (who he adores and sees regularly). Little things we used to do, like go out for lunch when I pick him up early on a Tuesday etc.

His worlds been turned upside down. I'm trying to manage it as best I can. Take him on walks, go to the lake and feed the ducks. Video chat the family. Reassurance that everything is going to be alright.

His imagination seems to be progressing alot lately. I'm wondering whether that's also a cause.

How is everyone else managing it?
Does anyone have any advice on how to help him and give him some reassurance?

Is his bed too small to share with your husband? Could they do something like indoor camping in his room or in the living room? Make an adventure out of it? Assuming your dh is at home, that is.
Other than that, tiring him out with physical activity is the best idea I have. Do you have outdoor space? Could you do some growing? Runner beans grow vertically in a fun way and can be grown in a pot - magic beanstalk?

Sorry no advice, just sympathy. I’ve ended up in bed with my 3 year old for the last 4 nights. She is usually so good at bedtime, but lockdown has made her clingy and needy and now she doesn’t want to be alone in bed. I’m just reluctantly giving in to it at the moment. It’s so tough for the little ones as they can’t understand why their routine has completely changed.

Our eldest grandson used to have nightmares at that age, we bought him a dream catcher and explained he was sage as it caught bad dreams reaching him. It really helped his parents with him.
As someone suggested camping in his room is a good idea.

Im in with my 3 year old every night just now, I really feel for her she misses nursery and her grandparents so much.

She thinks she is ill, as earlier in thebyear she had a tummy bug for 3 weeks and had to stay in and before that had chicken pox prior to that so that was another week stuck in.

Every night she asks if she is going to die, if I am going to die, if her gran is going to die.

I find the only way to deal with it is to keep her really active during the day so lots of trampolining in the garden, PE with Joe (she doesn't do it all, about 10 mins), YouTube yoga and dance classes etc. We are also trying to work though and school our 6 year old so tough going.

Then at night keep everything very relaxed, she gets some time with her kindle after bath then supper and stories with the whole family.

We are just managing it though really, can't really 'fix' the problem until all of this is over.

Address the anxiety - talk to him about why he won’t die. He is young and healthy. Give him some control over it. He is careful crossing roads, or he is very good about giving people space when taking a walk, anything that meets his current fear of what will make him die and makes him feel he has some control. The book ‘Paper Dolls’ is a great book to read about how people live in our memories always. This is what worked when my 3yo was worried about death, anyway.

Should add the paper dolls helped with worrying other people would die, not worries about dying herself

My husband and I have been sleeping in the lounge with our 3yo for the past 3 weeks or so. My son seems unaffected by the lockdown but is aware that we aren't allowed to see anyone and that he doesn't go to nursery anymore, which must be unsettling. He has had more nightmares and started crawling into our bed, but the bed is tiny and none of us were sleeping well, so we all moved into the lounge (husband in camp bed and me and son on the sofa) and everyone's getting a bit more sleep. I personally love it because it feels like we're on holiday, and the TV is there too, but sometimes I worry about how difficult it would be to go back to normal...

I think it might be a good idea for maybe your husband to set camp in your son's room for now. That way if he wakes up at night he would see his daddy and hopefully be comforted enough to go back to sleep.

Thank you all. Some great suggestions. Sadly DH needs to sleep in our bed as he needs a specific mattress. He had a back operation a few years ago. DD seems to be sleeping better in her cot tonight so he can come in for a cuddle with us. I'll try to do that more with him when I can.