Nightmares in Children: What Your Child Really Needs

During my career as a child psychiatrist I have helped hundreds of children deal with nightmares and other bedtime fears. The secret lies in strengthening and empowering your child .. something that is not achieved by simple reassurance, night lights or bedtime routines.

In fact, learning how to overcome fear is an important step in developing self-confidence and independence that will spread into all aspects of your child’s life. That's why I created a step-by-step method to help your child learn to sleep alone, free from bad dreams, feeling confident and happy.

But first let me share some information about children's nightmares and bad dreams ..

Children Who Have Bad Dreams or Nightmares

It all started when that mean little girl next door told your child the scary story about Bloody Mary coming out of the mirror at night .. or that kid at school who convinced your child that aliens are real .. or that commercial your child saw about a horror movie .. or your child overhearing some frightening event on the evening news ..

Your child may have seemed reassured at first by your words of comfort that these things were not real or could not hurt them, but when it was time for bed their anxieties crept back. Then, in the middle of the night they came into your room with a bad dream. The nightmare may not have even been about the thing that first scared them, but the theme was the same - someone or some thing was trying to harm them.

If the frightening image was strong enough or your child’s self-confidence was not up to the challenge, he or she may have developed an ongoing fear of having more scary dreams. Maybe they started to lay awake listening for a robber coming up the stairs or imagining scary things in the shadows of their darkened room.

This is a typical story that I have heard many times in my child psychiatry practice - a child developing a fear of a threatening person or thing, such as a robber, a kidnapper, an alien, a monster, a horror movie figure, etc. I have also heard the frustration and the fatigue in their parents who are losing sleep, losing patience and living with worry about their child who is fearful and not sleeping.

Understanding Bad Dreams, Nightmares and Night Terrors

When a person of any age falls asleep they gradually enter into a phase of Deep Sleep over the first 1-2 hours. In the deep sleep phase a person’s brain activity slows greatly and their body becomes deeply relaxed. This is followed by a phase of light sleep called REM (rapid eye movement) which is associated with normal dreaming. This is followed by 2 or 3 more deep sleep phases alternating with more REM sleep episodes. Each phase of deep sleep is progressively shorter and less deep. Most REM sleep dreaming occurs in the few hours before awakening.

Night terrors are very different from nightmares. Night terrors occur during the Deep Sleep phase, they have very little story line and are poorly recalled after awakening. A child may cry out or sit up or flail about during a night terror, but they are not even awake while the night terror is occurring. If they do awaken they are often groggy and disoriented. Night terrors typically occur within the first hour or two of falling asleep.

Nightmares are bad dreams that typically occur in the latter half of the night during REM sleep. There is usually some kind of story line with frightening images that can be easily recalled when awake. I have noticed that all dreams, good or bad, typically contain elements from the day before but they are often mixed together in new and creative ways.

What Causes Nightmares in Children?

When we go to bed for the night we stop doing the things that keep our minds busy, which frees up our minds for thinking and imagination – for better or worse. Children think about things too, but their imaginations are much stronger and more vivid than adults.

Almost all nightmares are triggered by recent events, stories, internet or TV images, or even frightening thoughts or nightmares from the day before.

Furthermore, the thing that triggered your child’s nightmares may also trigger other common fears such as:

Fear of being alone
Fear of the dark
Fear of the closet or under the bed
Fear of sounds in the house
Fear of someone breaking in
Fear of bad dreams or scary stories
Fear of waking in the night

All of this results in one thing - disturbed sleep for your child and you.

The Usual Advice (with my comments)

When I searched the Internet I found the following strategies for dealing with nightmares:

Reassure your child that everything is ok and that they are safe. - Good, but this is often not enough to really change things.
Make sure they get enough sleep. - Yes, but how do they get enough sleep if their fears are waking them up?
Have a light and happy bedtime routine. Avoid upsetting material (e.g., books, TV, internet videos) before bed. - Good prevention advice, but doesn’t correct an existing nightmare problem.
Avoid leaving bright lights on, but a night light is ok. - I agree, but does not correct the problem.
Build self-confidence. - Good, but how?
Use positive reinforcement or rewards. - Usually ineffective for clearing up nightmares.
Have a regular bedtime routine. - Good advice, but does not eliminate the fears.
Talk with your child to identify things that upset them during the day. - Great, but this may not go far enough. Giving your child the chance to talk about what happened may help to resolve their anxiety, but other desensitization and confidence-building strategies could help.

What Your Child Really Needs

Your child needs a way to think differently about the nightmare, so that it is no longer scary. Furthermore, since the nightmare is like a movie that they created inside their head, they are the only one who can change it. That’s why all external interventions, such as reassurance, etc, are often not effective.

I point out to children that they, in fact, are the director of the movie that they created inside their head and, therefore, they can make up a new ending for that movie .. preferably a funny ending. Then they can play through that new funny movie at bedtime. Mom or Dad can participate but not take the lead.

Getting your child on board with this strategy can be tricky, so I developed the interactive Bedtime Hero program that takes your child through the same step-by-step therapy method that I use in my office.

The Bedtime Hero Program

Bedtime Hero is an interactive online therapy program in which my voice guides your child through a series of steps with Disney-like animations. Your role is to assist and support your child as they work through the process.

Bedtime Hero uses the same series of therapeutic steps that I use with children in my office. My clinical research revealed that over 90% of my child patients with bedtime anxiety achieved significant improvement within a few sessions using this method.

The Bedtime Hero program ..

First asks a child to identify what usually happens and helps them reach a decision to solve the problem,
Establishes the idea that feeling strong and confident is the best way to achieve their goal,
Creates their personal power phrase,
Helps them blend in good memories into their experience of being alone in bed,
Gives suggestions on ways they can think differently about their nightmares and sleeping alone,
Engages them in mental rehearsals of nightmares with a funny ending,
Helps your child work through and resolve some or all of the 7 common fears,
Allows your child to measure their level of anxiety on a reference scale of 0 to 10,
Encourages you and your child to work through the issues bit by bit over several sessions until they solve the problem,
Finishes with a final session that locks in their gains with an extra boost of strength and confidence,
The program works best for children aged 6 to 12 years.

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About Dr Lauderdale

Dr. Lauderdale was in private practice as a child psychiatrist for 24 years in Victoria, BC, Canada. He has had over 35 years experience working with children and adolescents using a variety of therapeutic methods including psychotherapy, hypnotherapy, Eye Movement and Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), motivational psychology, medication and family therapy. He specializes in helping children with fears and anxiety disorders.

Completely resolved

March 20, 2023

Thank you so much for creating this program and keeping it affordable for families. It truly helped my 11 year old son! When we went through the program our son even picked “going to the water park” as his positive experience before he heard the example. He felt understood. We love how it targeted exactly what he needed and how it did it so effectively. (Feel free to use as a review)

Mdunsmoor

Sleeping in own bed after 2 weeks

January 9, 2023

Sleeping in own bed, much more confident, able to go back to sleep on own. Puts self back to sleep sometimes. Started the program 2 weeks ago. Level of confidence about sleeping alone is now a 9 out of 10.

lfisher

Thank you for such a wonderful program

December 21, 2022

My daughter feels a lot more confident and happier about her room, and being in it by herself. She used to never sleep in her room by herself, but she’s now sleeping alone and waking up during the night to come and see me. However, I know that she will eventually be able to soothe herself back to sleep.

More confident after 1 week

December 14, 2022

More able to talk him through the going to bed routine and create confidence in his ability to be alone at bedtime.

mschwi1

Amazing Results!!!

November 8, 2022

My 9yo daughter was having an escalating issue with not sleeping through the night over 3 months. She got to the point that she would stay awake until about 11pm in her room until she passed out asleep and then woke up at 3am and stayed awake. She was too scared to go to sleep. We did one session from Bedtime Hero and she slept 10 hours the first night! We finished the entire program and she hasn’t had an issue since. She has moments of fear and apprehension, so we take 5 minutes to review some of the things we’ve learned (like tapping into the power inside of her, visualization, etc,) and she rolls over and goes right to sleep. A life changing program!

Sheshopsforless

Completely resolved

October 26, 2022

Bedtime Hero was very helpful. I recommend this program.

dthorsson

Seems to be effective

October 23, 2022

Less nervous at bedtime. After 3 weeks of using the Full Program his level of confidence about sleeping on his own is 10 out of 10!

Dorinaksmith

Successful Sleeper!

August 8, 2022

My 8yo was terrified to sleep in her room. She would sob and be in hysterics at bedtime and would only sleep in our room. Within 1 week of starting Bedtime Hero she was falling asleep in her room, and within a few months she was falling asleep and staying in her room the whole night without coming to our room or waking us in the night. She now enjoys her room, feels safe, and doesn’t protest at bedtime. I would highly recommend Bedtime Hero to anyone looking for an effective and nurturing way to support their child at bedtime.

Gretchen

Great improvement

August 8, 2022

mcrandel

Greatly improved

March 21, 2022

Talking about my child’s fears and expectations for bedtime with this program helped him work through what he needed to do/change. The guides and the suggestions in the course were very helpful. He now has no fear at all.

Emily Dowdle

Massive difference in a short space of time!

December 9, 2021

I was sceptical about Bedtime Hero but I was also desperate. Our 11yr old was TERRIFIED to sleep in her own room. Her imagination was wild and she imagined all sorts of horrors lurking in her room. She would only sleep in our bedroom.

After many a google search, I decided to give Bedtime Hero a go. It made such a massive difference in such a short space of time!

Our daughter now sleeps in her own room every night, she has no fears of being alone at night. I am so pleased with the program, I will recommend it to anyone who’s child is terrified to sleep alone.

Nicolajam595

Thank You

December 8, 2021

My 8 year old has had sleep struggles her whole life. We have tried everything, including 6 months of therapy. Nothing worked until we found Dr. Lauderdale’s program. Within 2 weeks, her anxiety is almost gone. Thank you, Dr. Lauderdale!

Shan.crum

Really helped our daughter

December 7, 2021

So glad we found this program. It really helped our daughter make the move to sleeping through the night in her own bed.

jennifershreve

Big improvement

December 7, 2021

LineLagrandeur

More confident and sleeping on her own

December 6, 2021

SarahC

Slightly improved

December 6, 2021

My son is 10 years old and still can’t sleep alone although he keep trying. Maybe use different ideas or strategies.

Thank you

Smehanna

Sleeping well without anxiety

December 5, 2021

Enigmakairos

Not interested

December 5, 2021

My 5 years old smarter. She was exited about the story and wood like to sleep in the room. Read 2. After she was not interested. I give up sleeping in Cher, floor. The end is the same as soon I leave the room she wakes up and follow me :)))

Katalin

Response from ShrinkinaBox

The program works best for 6-12 year old children.

– Dr Lauderdale

Greatly improved

December 4, 2021

Bedtime Hero was truly a game changer for us. My son was waking up multiple times a night, very fearful and anxious to go back to bed. It was exhausting for all of us. Bedtime Hero gave us powerful tools which worked almost immediately. Within two weeks of starting the program, he was sleeping through the night and going to bed on his own. If he ever has a rough day or is feeling anxiety at bed time, he will actually ask for his “power phrase.” He knows it works and is comforted just by the reminder of what we learned. Money well spent! Thank you so much.

LeviJohn

No concerns. Great program!

December 4, 2021

Bedtime Hero worked within days and the problems have not returned (it’s been almost a year.) Our 8-year-old daughter was having difficulty sleeping by herself as a result of us moving homes. I followed the program with her and she was sleeping by herself within 4 days! I highly recommend this program. It was clear my daughter felt empowered and it was a great experience for me as her parent, too.

H276558

Great program. Thank you!

November 24, 2021

Hi Dr. Mark – Just wanted to send some feedback and a quick word of thanks for the Bedtime Hero program. For months, we have struggled to make any progress getting our 7 year old to sleep on her own. She becomes extremely anxious at bed time and everything we tried had little motivation for her – no reward or threat to take something away had any impact on her fear level. It just was real and we all couldn’t figure out any strategies to make improvement.

I figured there had to be some sort of therapy we could try and upon a quick Google I found Bedtime Hero. My daughter was super excited to try it cause it seemed cool, she desires to be better at bedtime, it was something we could do together and frankly, it just gave us a different way to come at this problem.

The first night she rated herself a level 10 anxious, and I would have to agree. She wasn’t even bluffing – she was terrified of sleeping on her own. Two nights in? She rated herself a 0. ?! Don’t get me wrong, we have a long way to go, but look at her confidence jump and she’s HAPPY. I can’t recall a day where she’s been happy in her bedtime routine. We love the tapping and thinking of good thoughts. This program resonated with her!

Wish us luck on continuing the journey, but I wanted to stop and say THANK YOU for this tool.

Katie T.

How to Really Deal With
Nightmares in Children

The Bedtime Hero Program for Nighttime Fears

Children Who Have Bad Dreams or Nightmares

How Common Is It?

The Goal