Children with vivid imaginations seem to have more nightmares than their more matter-of-fact siblings. Our imagination goes on working after we fall asleep and this can cause nightmares.
Fear or trauma can also be a cause of nightmares. Fear of the dark, fear from watching scary TV shows can also lead to scary nightmares.
Illness and some medications can also lead to bad dreams. When the child is better or stops taking the medication, these type of nightmares usually disappear.
Nightmares are quite common and around 25% of children have at least one per week.
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I am not a child, but do suffer from nightmares that leave me exhausted and upset, especially if they are morning (5AM – 6:30 AM) dreams. I try to understand why the dreams happen and perhaps learn from them. I would like to connect the dreams with foods that I had ingested at the evening meal but find it hard to believe that what I ate 10 – 12 hours earlier would have an impact on my sleep. Does any other reader find that particular foods have an impact on sleep, even 10 – 12 hours later?
Janice, you might find help through the use of lucid dreaming: the art of controlling your dreams. It takes time to master, but those who practice it can turn their worst nightmares into wonderful dreams. You can visit http://www.lucidity.com/ for more information about it. I hope this helps.
Janice, I hope Christian’s reply has given you something to consider. I haven’t actually tried lucid dreaming but have spoken to people who do it all the time and swear by it.
I don’t think food could be causing your nightmares. More likely to be stress.
Wendy
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