My child is having nightmares. What can I do?

My child is having nightmares. What can I do?

Having nightmares is common for young children. If your little one has nightmares, the important things to think about are: how frightened your little one is by the nightmares, how you as a parent react to them, the frequency of the nightmares, and whether or not there is some sort of theme that is coming across in the nightmares. If your little one has a nightmare and calls to you during the night, calmly reassure him and bring him back to his own bed. If your little one has a recurrent frightening dream, be sure to reassure him that it is only a dream. Without providing too much attention, you can also talk to your little one about the theme and encourage him to change the ending. For example, your child may consistently dreams that a scary dinosaur comes to the park. If your child likes something like superheroes, help him to construct a different ending to his dream so that he turns into a superhero and protects everyone in the park from the scary dinosaur! This will take some practice but can help!