Nightmares cause sleeping problems

Dear Dr. Donya,

I'm a mother of a 3-year-old daughter who won't sleep alone. She slept on her own when she was a a toddler, but after she watched a Dinosaurs cartoon movie sometime ago, she won't sleep on her own again. Sometimes she can sleep on her own for a couple of hours, but when she wakes up in the middle of the night she won't return to bed unless I sleep with her. This happens every single night and I am worried about this. I have put a night lamp in her room because she asked for it, but still it is not working. Would you tell me what to do? Thank you for your kind advice.

--Yeyen

Dear Yeyen

In this age group nasty thoughts are a kind of half asleep nightmare which many children experience when they are drowsing off.

If she can sleep and wakes up crying she is probably having a nightmare. You will not prevent nightmares by banning a scary television program because dreaming is part of inner life.

Almost every child from time to time has nightmares and sometimes they have them almost every night. If she doesn't show any signs of stress when she is awake, you do not need to worry about them.

Just go to her quickly when she starts to cry, let her see you, hear you and feel you. This will soothe her back to sleep. If she cannot go back to sleep let her talk about it. Reassure her by using simple and definite words such as, nobody can come into her room, mom and dad will be close by, the house is locked and her room is too high for anything to come in.

Talking to her will reduce her overall level of anxiety.

--Dr. Donya