Nightmares. They are inevitable. I will never forget my reoccurring childhood nightmare. Walking down the street, I see a wolf walking upright with clothes on - who sharply turns when he sees me. Then comes the chase. I run up the street, him behind. I make it to the garage, run towards the door, and then the slow motion begins. But I am in slow motion, and he isn’t. I wake up as he strikes.
Fast forward years later to my first son’s room. He wakes up screaming, “The spiders are getting me! The spiders are getting me!” His first nightmare. Soon to follow, the dreams of dogs with penny eyes. They were black dogs, sharp yellow teeth, and eyes made of pennies. This nightmare had a direct reference to Pee Herman’s Penny Cartoons. My bad.
So how do you help your children on those nights when they are just too afraid to fall asleep? Or when they wake up shaking from the aftermath of a horrible nightmare?
You can talk to them calmly and explain there is no such thing as monsters. In my house, that would not fly. OR… you can use gimmicks. After all, these are children - and what better way to connect to them than using childlike things to get rid of the monsters?
I always told my children there weren’t monsters. I even brought religion into mix. God would never let there be monsters to scare little children. But after all the explanations about their guaranteed safety, I would break out the monster spray. “Just so you will feel better.”
All you need is a dollar store spray bottle, some water and some scent. You can use vanilla extract, lavender oil, mint extract, vinegar or even a tiny bit of perfume to make the monster spray “special.” If your child has allergies, then add some glitter to plain water. Linen spray works well too.
Here are some other gimmicks you can use to help your child when he or she suffers from nightmares:
- If your child is old enough, allow him or her to hold a non toxic glow stick when falling asleep. Do not do this if your child is younger than the recommended age. Flashlights work well too, but again, make sure your child is old enough to know that batteries are not toys.
- Safe toys like Glow Worm and Glow Bear are helpful in keeping monsters at bay, especially for young children.
- If you are Catholic, you can get a glow in the dark Rosary for your child.
- Let your child pick out a special nightlight or two at the store.
- Tell your child that if he dreams of a monster, to tell the monster, “I’m going to tell your Mommy if you don’t leave me alone!” This worked well with my children. It brought the “big bad monster” down to their level, and gave them power with their words.
- Glitter around the bed may be a bother to vacuum the next day, but it sure helps to keep those monsters at bay!
- Did you know that beta fish and hermit crabs can fight monsters at night? And that monsters are horribly afraid of beta’s and hermit crabs? These are easy pets to care for, and can be kept in your child’s room. Of course, your child has to be the type who respects animals, and you have to be the type to wet sponges every night, feed daily and clean tanks weekly. If you go this route, make a book with your child about how the pet gets bigger at night and fights off the “bad guys.”
Do you have any great tricks to keep the monsters away? How do you handle your children’s nightmares?
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