I had a nightmare early this morning and woke up crying. The feelings were so unpleasant that it left me feeling upset for the whole morning and affected my mood badly. I must be feeling stressful again….

There will be moments when our children cry badly during their sleep, struggling with the fear, unhappy moments and loneliness that they feel in their nightmares. I extracted tips on methods to comfort a child after a nightmare from eHow.com:

Step 1:Comfort the child by holding him. Reassure him that it is okay to feel scared and everyone has dreams and nightmares that are upsetting. Your calm presence will help strengthen the child’s sense of security.
Step 2:Ensure that nightmares are not real. Soothe him by saying that it is over and the nightmares cannot hurt him. Children can pick up stress from parents’ voices. Use a calm tone to console the child.
Step 3:Familiarize him with his favorite objects in his room. This will help him differentiate between reality and dreams.
Step 4:Offer the child a security object to hold which will help a smooth transition back to sleep. It could be a blanket, pillow, a stuffed toy or soft music.
Step 5:Turn on a dim light and leave the door open for him to overcome his fear.