Young children before the age of seven have a difficult time knowing between reality and fantasy. Nightmares are very common because they can't distinguish between the two yet. Go to him and let him know he is having a bad dream, you are there and now the dream will go away.  Comfort him and when he is asleep again go back to your own bed.

Sounds easy?  It is in one way but difficult each time you have to pull yourself out of bed again and again to comfort your child. But when he gets older it will stop.

MSugarKane Jul. 24, 2007 at 11:25 PM

Hi,

I am so sorry about your son. I can feel your pain. My son is 21 months and he started having nightmares 3 months ago. He wakes up crying as if he was in pain. He has real tears and can not settle down. It may not be the best  thing but if I cant console him by humming and rubbing his back I lay him next to me until he falls asleep again. At bedtime I read him silly stories and make him laugh. I then put on a turtle that projects stars on to the ceiling and place him in his crib. I rub his back and sing twinkle twinkle little star. This ritual has helped him have less nightmares. I hope this helps.

Tricia486 Jul. 24, 2007 at 11:32 PM

3littlekittysma Jul. 24, 2007 at 11:40 PM

I found this article

Nightmares and children

Most children experience nightmares from time to time. Frightening dreams can start when the child is about two years old, and reach a peak between the ages of three and six years. Nightmares usually occur later in the sleep cycle, from 4am to 6am, but the frequency differs from one child to the next. Your child may have only a few scary dreams a year, or be troubled by nightmares much more often. About one quarter of children have at least one nightmare every week. A common theme is being chased by a frightening person or animal. The cause of nightmares isn't known, but it is thought to be the ordinary stresses and strains of growing up. Children who have experienced a traumatic event, for example, tend to have frequent nightmares for the next six months or so.

A range of possible causes
Some of the possible causes of nightmares include:

• The ordinary stresses and strains of growing up
• A traumatic event, such as an accident or surgery
• Fever
• An active imagination.

Coping with your child's nightmare
Suggestions include:

• Go to your child as soon as you can. If your child's bedroom is far from yours and you can't be sure to hear them when they call or cry, consider installing a baby monitor.
• Cuddle and reassure your child. Talk calmly and gently.
• Appreciate that your child's feelings are genuine.
• Be prepared to stay with them until they have calmed down. If your child is particularly frightened, you may need to soothe them with a favourite (but relaxing) activity, such as reading a book together.
• Your child may want to talk to you about their nightmare. Encourage them to come up with alternate endings for the nightmare that are happy or funny.

Don't make things worse
You may, without meaning to, make the situation worse. Do not:

• Ignore the child - if you refuse to go to them, your child will only get more upset and frantic.
• Get angry - you may think your child is 'putting it on' for attention, or else you don't appreciate a broken sleep. Either way, expressing anger or tension will only upset your child even more.
• Allow them to sleep with you - when you're tired and wishing for an easy solution, it's tempting to take the child back to bed with you, but this tactic suggests to the child that sleeping in their own bed is what causes the nightmare. Eventually, they may insist on sleeping with you all the time.

Prevention suggestions
It isn't possible to stop your child from ever having another nightmare, but you may be able to reduce the frequency of bad dreams. Suggestions include:

• Make sure your child doesn't watch frightening shows on television, or read scary books.
• Consider your child's daily routine. Is anything troubling them? Stressful events that could trigger a spate of nightmares include a new sibling, moving house or starting school.
• Talk about dreams together, and explain that everyone has dreams and occasional nightmares.
• If your child is troubled by a recurring nightmare, help them to explore its meaning through drawing, writing or play acting. Thinking about the nightmare creatively - especially when the child comes up with a happier ending or 'makes friends' with the nightmare character - can help to defuse the power of the dream.

mamadragon Jul. 25, 2007 at 6:51 AM

vivalamanda0883 Jul. 25, 2007 at 7:09 AM

My daughter used to have them too..  They are night terrors, at least that is what my daughter had..  She would scream, not just cry but scream, for several minutes on end..  The strange thing was that her eyes were open and I thought she was awake, but she didn't really see me or hear me..

There wasn't much I could do about them but hold her if she let me..  After a few minutes she would lay down and go back to sleep, and she never remembered it in the morning..

She grew out of it..

Good luck..

dragoncookie Jul. 25, 2007 at 10:11 AM

Hey Sheila..

It sound's like night terrors.  My son got them and my little sister got them realllly bad. Just dont wake him up just start rubbing his hair or face softly. I used to hush softly to him and he would calm down, fall asleep and never notice it happened. He grew out of it like his dr. said he would. If you want to read about it I found this.. good luck. ttys, Kelly

 What are night terrors?
Night terrors occur in at least 5 percent of young children, and can start as early as 9 months. These mysterious disturbances happen during deep, non-dreaming sleep. A child in this state will cry, whimper, flail, and even bolt out of bed. Though his eyes may be wide open, he's not awake and isn't aware of your presence. Once the night terror (which can last anywhere from a few minutes to half an hour or more) is over, your child will return to a sound sleep and have no memory of the incident in the morning.

Kelians3lil1s Jul. 27, 2007 at 11:02 AM