Handling toddler nightmares

Watch Video: Handling toddler nightmares by Kathy Sinclair, ...
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Handling toddler nightmares

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If your toddler is woken up with a nightmare, the first and foremost thing that you should do is go in to them and comfort them. Turn the light on and make sure that they are okay. Tell them it’s fine and just give them lots of hugs, lots of kisses, lots of cuddles. If they’re a year or younger, they cannot differentiate the difference between the reality and non-reality, so there’s no point in telling your toddler of a year that it’s not real. He doesn’t understand that. All he needs is love from you and just the cuddles. If your toddler is over a year, then he can differentiate the difference between reality and non-reality, so it’s fine to tell him that it wasn’t real, it’s just a nightmare. And also make sure if your child is verbal, that you can sit and listen to what the nightmare was and make comments on it. And say, “Wow, that seems really scary, but that’s not real, that would never happen.” And just reassure them that it’s not real. And just also give them lots of cuddles and hugs and stuff like that. And also, you may have to stay in the room for a large amount of time after nightmare – they might have a hard time self soothing themselves to sleep, so just be prepared to stay in the room for a good hour to two hours until they get back to sleep.

Watch Video: Handling toddler nightmares by Kathy Sinclair, ...

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Kathy Sinclair

Sleep Expert

Kathy Sinclair is a committed and dedicated baby sleep expert that has spent 2,856 nights without sleep so that parents of newborns could get theirs. During this time she has studied closely the secrets, nuances, and ins-and-outs of baby sleeping patterns. This study, along with her skill and knowledge, has enabled her to be known as the “Baby Whisperer of Los Angeles” by some of her clients, who know that she can get babies sleeping peacefully and easily within a very short space of time.

Kathy is a graduate of Australia's prestigious Charlton Brown Nanny College, a certified postpartum doula, lactation educator, and a certified Happiest Baby on the Block Educator. As the head of Baby Sleep Solutions, a sleep consultation service, Kathy does online, telephone and in person consulting to families who need to get more sleep quickly and without fuss.

Kathy currently spends her time between Los Angeles and Brisbane Australia, enjoying an endless summer and the best of both worlds.

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