Nightmare

Well, put this one down in the books as another first...and not a good one. Lilly has always been a good sleeper. We don't have to fight her or bribe her to get her to go right to bed without screaming. So, when 10:30 came rolling around the other night, and suddenly she was screaming for mommy, I was worried. When I got into her room, she was terrified, screaming "MOMMY!! SCARY SPIDERS!!" It occurred to me that she had her first nightmare. I was confused, because I didn't realize kids so little could get nightmares that bad. She's never even seen a real spider, and the only spiders she sees are on TV, and happy and nice! Surely the Itsy Bisty Spider isn't that terrifying!

I rocked her in the recliner for about 20 minutes, comforting her, telling her there were no spiders, and listing off "happy things" that she would dream about when she went back to sleep. We listed off kitties, puppies, grandma, and then she added things like "Nemo, sharks, penguins..." (she still loves to talk about everything she saw at the aquarium). When I thought she was calm enough to go back to bed, I tucked her back in and left, feeling very "mommy-like" and happy that I had that experience with Lilly. I didn't like getting to see her so afraid, but I think we bonded a little, and I was loving the snuggles. 

About 5 minutes later, the entire process started all over again. Again, I rocked her and calmed her down, all the while hoping she'd fall back asleep, and silently praying that the Lord would comfort her. I softly stroked her forehead, as her eyes got heavy and she threatened sleep. I've never seen a kid fight sleep so hard. She was SO tired, but every time she'd close her eyes for a few seconds, tricking me into thinking she'd finally sleep, she would pop them back open. I tucked her back in at around 12:30, and was super surprised when she stayed asleep for the rest of the night. 

When Ryan got up with her the next morning, she was still holding onto the terror. He said that before going into any room, she'd peer around the corner, checking for "scary spiders." It must have been one bad nightmare for her to not only remember it, but to be afraid of her own surroundings. We tried everything we could to get her to understand that not only was there no spider in her bed, but that mommy and daddy were there and it was safe. Nothing worked, and even just getting her to nap or talk about the spider sent her into a panic. 

Last night was a repeat of the night before. She was in total hysteria when we put her to bed. Even Ryan admitted that it was pulling at his heart strings, and seeing her so scared was hard for him. We just decided that the only way she was going to get over it was to let her "cry it out." Anything we did, whether it be singing her back to sleep, running in every few minutes, or even letting her sleep in our bed, would only create bad habits. She fell asleep about 10 minutes into her screaming fit, and slept through 'til morning. She still talks about the spiders, so I guess we'll see how tonight goes. Wish us luck!! 

This is a sound clip of her hysteria the first night. She's screaming "Mommy! Scary spiders!"