How do you respond to a frantic, crying child in the middle of the night? At first I was a bit dazed for it was 3 AM in the morning and two of our 3 children were looking at me from the side of the bed. The little one seemed quite okay, so I picked him up, gave him a kiss and laid him beside his father. I think that he was asleep before we left the room.
We went into the living room where my daughter was crying and shaking. We sat down for a few minutes. I held on tight and tried to get her to share what had happened.
Nightmares. She couldn’t articulate what they were about, only that they had affected her both nights, she couldn’t sleep, and she was scared. Nightmares.
Oh, how I wish I could keep them at bay. All I could do was help her feel safe. At the moment, her thoughts were too jumbled. What is a mom to do?
- Crawl into bed and hold her tight.
- Say everything is going to be alright.
- Say how much I love you and there’s nothing here that’s going to hurt you.
- All will be better by morning!
It took about 15 minutes, but she had settled down and was fast asleep. Nightmares, can’t be avoided, but love has a way of making them go away even as the children grow older. How do you comfort your children through nightmares?
