Repetitive Nightmares
Suffering from repetitive nightmares means that your child experiences the same nightmare, or similar nightmares, multiple times. They typically wake up and are anxious, fearful and/or crying. In some cases, it’s possible to determine that the trigger is something frightening they have either witnessed or experienced, but in other cases no specific triggering event can be identified. Nightmares that arise purely from a child’s imaginings can also develop.
All dreams have happy endings
Explain to your child that all our dreams have happy endings. The problem is that if you happen to wake up in the middle of an exciting dream and miss its happy ending, the dream can appear to be a nightmare.
The same observation can be made about many stories and movies. If you stop watching a film at a point where the action is very frightening or alarming (and you thus miss the happy ending), the film can resemble a nightmare. The trick for overcoming nightmares is learning how to continue your dream so that you experience the whole story.
When your child has grasped this idea, encourage them to imagine how their dream could have continued if they had not woken up. What could have happened next? What turn might the story have taken and what would the happy ending have been like? For example, if their dream involves them getting lost or separated from their parents, help them imagine how the story might continue past the point at which they usually wake up. As they’re using their imaginations, anything can happen. They could, for example, imagine that a big friendly owl appears from nowhere and shows them the way home, where their parents are delighted to see them. In dreams, everything is possible.
Once your child has invented a happy conclusion, ask them to try experiencing the whole dream, including their new happy ending, on the following night. They may be surprised to discover that once their happy ending is in place, waiting to be experienced, the original nightmare that frightened them may simply never reoccur.
Explain to your child that all our dreams have happy endings. The problem is that if you happen to wake up in the middle of an exciting dream and miss its happy ending, the dream can appear to be a nightmare.
Further reading
A picture story describing this approach, called Nigel’s Nightmare, can be found on the Kids’Skills website. It can be used in presenting the approach described here to children.
This article is owned by: Kids’Skills http://www.kidsskillsapp.com/
