2.5 yo - nightmares

[AnyaC84]

My 2.5 yo has always been a great sleeper since she was 4mo. Her schedule was ~8pm-7am with a 1.5-2hr nap during the day. She always fell asleep on her own too.
For about 3 weeks now she seems to have developed nightmares. She wakes up at night (usually closer to the morning) crying and she has trouble going to sleep on her own and wants someone to sit with her.
She has nightmares about 5 times a week now and we always come running when she cries.
Has anyone else gone through this? How long did it last? Did you find anything that helps?

Lie on her bed and look around to see if anything creates shapes, scary shapes.

The pattern on my curtains as a 4 year old used to give me horrific nightmares and it didn't occur to me to tell anyone.

Also are there any annoying wind chimes possibly making creepy noises in the garden etc

This is the age where children develop fears - scared of the dark, scared of off shaped shadows, scared of monsters under the bed - that sort of thing.

Leaving a light on may help.

Poor poppet. Give her a nightlight and also just talk to her about her dreams and ask if they're scary and go from there

It's a developmental stage, she will grow out of it but as above, check for dodgy shadows. Re nightlights look into the grolight ones as they are blue so don't stimulate them.

However, don't assume that they are nightmares unless she can tell you what scared her. My 8 year old has suffered night terrors since she was about 10 weeks old. Once in a while at first and then about your dd's age she got worse. They get worse again now when she is worried/stressed about something or is poorly. She is also terrified of the dark and still has a coloured nightlight (WiFi bulb that goes dark purple as it's darker than the grolight)

@GoingForAWalk that's a great idea! I didn't think of it. I remember my mom got curtains for our room when I was a kid and she loved them. I didn't tell her until I was older those curtains gave me so many nightmares. Thank you!

@FATEdestiny thank you! I just got her a nightlight and I will keep offering to leave her door open too.

@csectionmumma yes! I ask her if she had a bad dream and if she wants to talk about it and all she says is "yes". She doesn't seem to have the language yet to talk about it. I do tell her that it's not real and everything but I doubt she can comprehend it yet. Poor baby

@Terminallysleepdeprived thank you for advice! I will look into grolights. And good point on assuming. She can't quite talk about them yet other than saying "scary dream". And it makes sense why it started now. She's been sick for the past month, on and off. And they do seem to lessen up when she feels better. Thank you!

[quote AnyaC84]@Terminallysleepdeprived thank you for advice! I will look into grolights. And good point on assuming. She can't quite talk about them yet other than saying "scary dream". And it makes sense why it started now. She's been sick for the past month, on and off. And they do seem to lessen up when she feels better. Thank you![/quote]
Sounds like they could be as a result of a fever then. Poor little mite, hopefully they will ease once she is fully better.

If she was older I would suggest a worry monster. They have worked wonders with dd when her anxiety was bad during lockdown 1. At her age she may not have the vocal to articulate but could you maybe get her to draw what has scared her?

@Terminallysleepdeprived that's a good idea! I will ask her. Her drawing is not the greatest but it will be fun to try! I'll also look into worry monster. It may help. I got her a huge unicorn a week or so ago and told her a sleep fairy stopped by and left her some new sheets and a unicorn. Now she only sleeps with it and abandoned all her toys It seems to soothe her a little bit.

Aww bless her, hope it is easing it.

I would also talk about the fact that it is OK to be scared of something, maybe tell her about something you used to be scared of, it might help her to know that even grown ups are scared at times. Although be careful what you tell her, especially if she has a sense of humour...I told dd I am scared of spider, little sod crept into my room and tickled me with her my little pony tail...nearly shat the bed on the spot. Little madam howled with laughter for hours

As a thought...regardless of her drawing capabilities (only she needs to know what it is really) you could then put it in a worry monster because they eat children's worries and then they don't have to be scared or worried about that thing anymore...then you can just sneak it out and destroy the paper

DD is the same age and also having nightmares. She specifies them as big spiders, monsters, and the big bad wolf. We just bring her into our bed (where there are no spiders. Unclear on the monsters or wolf ).

But also she likes us to use the special invisible monster spray at bedtime. Squirt it under the cot, wardrobe doors, curtains etc. Sometimes you’ll catch a monster with it and throw it out the window, saying “And don’t come back!” And the monster says “OK, sorry.” She usually sleeps easily after this special patented highly scientific technique.

@hotmeatymilk that's a great idea! I love how scientific it is. I'll be definitely putting it to use