One night Evie was crying in her sleep. I went to see what was the matter and she explained to me that, while she was lying in her crib, a frog was trying to eat her legs. I explained to her about dreams and she went back to bed, but this dream stuck with her for several days, until we had to have a lengthy discussion about good dreams and bad dreams, and why bad dreams couldn’t hurt you.
Now, I don’t know about you, but this sounds like a horrifying dream to me, even as an adult. There’s something particularly creepy about it being a giant frog, I can totally picture it. I’ve seen Pan’s Labyrinth.
The fact is, I have very vivid dreams that I almost always remember on a nightly basis. When I was a kid, I was deathly afraid of the dark. I would lie awake nearly every single night with the sheet pulled up to my eyes, getting carried away by my very vivid imagination. Naturally, I would rather Evie was spared from that.
The other day she told me about a dream she had. She was flying down a long hallway, like a bat, while “something with no mouth and no feet” walks behind her. Creepy to the max. On one hand I am proud that she has such a vivid imagination. I think that will serve her well in life.
I’m sure every kid has nightmares. It’s probably not a big deal. Anybody else have any experience with this? How old were your kids when they started having nightmares, and when did they grow out of it?
Shane Halbach 
I know what you mean…sometimes those dreams will get you. I have very vivd dreams about tornados…so real I can “hear” the roar as so often mentioned that resembles a train. Don’t those vivid dreams mean she will be very creative?
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I had a horrifying dream about aliens in my basement. It was green, without a face and it stepped out from behind the furnace. I had issues going into the basement for a few years after that.
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For the most part, I don’t remember my dreams. I have noticed that I have more vivid dreams when I eat chocolate late evening and I also know that taking some antidepressants can cause dreams to be more vivid. I’m thinking it may have to do with activating neurotransmitters which I would think would be involved in dreaming. Obviously, neither of those apply to Evie but am wondering if other foods could contribute to vivid dreaming.
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I believe the dream state is when you are entering or leaving your deep sleep. Anything that disturbs your deep sleep, such as caffeine or alchohol seems to make my dreams a little wilder. I’m sure there are many other things such as medication that can do the same.
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I’m a little behind on Reader, so please forgive my late response. Andrew will be 3 next month and as far as I know he hasn’t had any dreams/nightmares, or maybe he just hasn’t shared them with me. He does wake up in the middle of the night on occasion, but it’s usuallly because he can’t find a Matchbox car he’s taken to bed with him or he’s realized I snuck his blanket over him. At his doctor appointment last week, Andrew’s pediatrican did mention to me that 3-year-olds start having a lot of dreams/nightmares. Evie must be getting an early start!
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