A "dream book" placed under the pillow at bedtime prevents nightmares

Duane's hack reinforces my belief that a good book cures almost anything:

My four year-old tends to complain of bad dreams although she can never articulate what happens in them. This sometimes leads to her not wanting to go to bed. I informed her that if she sleeps with a book under her pillow, she'll dream about the book instead of having nightmares. Who knows whether it works or not, but it gets her mind off of nightmares just before bedtime which is probably the biggest cause of them in the first place.

(Typically it's a Cinderella or Care Bears book, but I swear, I once found King Lear under there. Yikes!)

Related: During night terrors, suggest a "replacement dream"

Comments

[Molly]

This is brilliant! Great idea, we're trying this tonight..

[Tracy]

We use an idea I saw in a magazine (can't remember which one or the issue or I'd give better credit). Take a TV remote you no longer use (we had a bunch), and it becomes a 'dream remote'. We told our son that all he needs to do if he wakes up with a bad dream is to hit the channel change buttons & he'll change to a good dream instead of a bad one. So far so good!

Our other son sleeps with books under his pillow as part of his normal routine. :}

[Jill in Atlanta]

We bought a kit to make our own dream catcher. So far it has worked like they're supposed to! (Of course, his "bad dreams" usually happen within the first minute of us leaving the room, before he's had time to close his eyes)

[Kate]

We told our daughter there is a Blue Fairy in her ceiling fan that she can call on to "wipe her dreams clean." Seemed to work pretty well, too.

[coffeejitters (Judy Haley)]

King Lear? LOL!

[Ingrid]

We made dreamcatcher, too, and it actually encourages her to stay in her own bed. Sometimes.