A treasure chest of revelatory information is hidden in the recesses of a child’s dream. A dream reveals a child’s general temperament and how they deal with the world. It alerts parents if there is something in a child’s life that is frightening or overwhelming. It notifies how a child is coping to any changes going on in their life.

THE EARLY YEARS OF LIFE
From birth to seven years old a child’s conscious mind is forming, and the reasoning capacity developing. Misinterpretation can be on both sides where adults misinterpret a child’s acting out or a child misinterprets cues form those around her. Dreams are an intimate look into a child’s psyche to reveal their attempts to build thinking patterns and belief systems about themselves and others that are being set. Through a child’s dreams parents can see more clearly and then can offer guidance to free a child of fears and insecurities as well as set them on a firm footing for self-empowerment and understanding

A parent having an interest in their own dreams and having a dream journal by their bed is a good model. Find or make a notebook that the child can keep by their bed and record their dreams in. Even if they can’t write yet, they can draw their dreams in their notebook.

Having time during the day to share dreams can be a time to BE together. In our hectic lives, this may seem like a difficulty at least or an impossibility at most. However, the breakfast table or riding in the car together can make this time together spontaneous, natural and easy. The sharing that can take place sets a foundation for openness and cooperation.

NIGHTMARES
What many parents are concerned with, and rightly so, are nightmares and night terrors. There is a difference between the two and a difference in handling them. With a night terror the child is not aware of the trauma they are experiencing and should not be awakened. If this is an ongoing occurrence happening around the same time, the child can be awakened around thirty minutes before the time they begin to experience the night trauma.

In the case of nightmares there are REMS (rapid eye movements) and the child remembers what the dream is about and what was frightening to them. It is important for the adult to stay calm. Saying it is just a dream and not real is not comforting to the child. Instead reassure the child by saying they are not in the dream anymore. Ask them questions for clarification, and aid the child to feel empowered.

The next day more exploration can happen to aid the child to understand what they are afraid of in their life. By aiding them to feel empowered and confident in their waking state, the nightmares will go away.