My 4 year old has been having nightmares 2x per week.

[wildeyed]

Wakes up screaming and crying after having the dream, then goes back to sleep only to wake again in an hour. Eventually I put him in the bed with me, then he usually sleeps through 'till morning.

He seems happy most of the day. There have been no big changes or trauma in our lives. Is this a normal? He is a very imaginative kid. Maybe this is what is fueling the dreams?

[katsy]

1. My son went through a similar episode at 4 years old.

He would cry and tell me it was a bad dream. He was going through growing pains.

He's 6 now and he wakes up when going through a growth spurt, but doesn't cry any more.

I massage his legs and sometimes used a cool pack on them.

My daughter (they're twins) is a sound sleeper and isn't affected by growth spurts - sleeps right through them.

[wildeyed]

2. He is looking long and lean these days, like he has just gone through a growth spurt..

The toddler tummy is all gone :( I wouldn't be surprised if a growth spurt had something to do with the dreams.

I try to have him imagine "goodmares", as he calls them, before he goes to sleep. We picture the best, happiest scenes we can think of. Dunno if it helps, but at least it is fun.

My six year old daughter is also a heavy sleeper and never seems to have bad dreams. She was not dry at night until recently either, due to the heavy sleeping, so I guess there was a down side to that, too.

[katsy]

3. Same here with my daughter.

She sleeps like the dead. And gets nasty when I try to walk her to the bathroom.

I bought these really beautiful colored stones and we call them dream rocks. My son takes one to bed for "good dreams". I explained to him what growing pains were and he let go of the "bad" dreams thingy. Now when he wakes up in pain, we just make it a special time together and I massage his legs until he sleeps once more.

I love this age.

Best of luck to you and your children. HUGS!

[silverlib]

4. Just a thought...

pin worms are still around and are notorious for interrupting children's sleep and causing nightmares. Have you checked? Every time my daughters went thru a spat (more than a couple of nights) this was the case and so easy to treat.

[wildeyed]

5. Eeeew!

Wouldn't surprise me if that was the case. I didn't know worms caused sleep disturbances.

[Sabriel]

6. My pediatrician suggested herbal remedies

She suggested camomile. There are others, too.