Nightmare

Edie woke from what was I think her first legit nightmare last night. After re-reading the Ferber sleep book in January, I realized that her freaked out wakings around 11pm couldn't possibly be nightmares. Toddler sleep cycles ensure that there really only are certain parts of the night in which nightmares CAN occur. This was incredibly enlightening. What I -vaguely- remember is that the most common times for nightmares are in the wee hours of the morning, like 2am until 5am. So when Edie woke last night around 4am totally wigging out, yelling "NO! NO!" like she was running from a grizzly bear, I raced into her room. I found her laying flat on her back in bed and when she saw me, she seemed terribly relieved. She said, "I don't WANT cheese Mom! I only wanted to go OUTSIDE!"

Sheesh. These are apparently the horrific nightmares of my 2 and a half year old: being forced to eat cheese and denied the opportunity to play outside.

I calmly explained that she didn't have to eat any cheese because it was the middle of the night and that we could go outside in the morning.

She seemed greatly relieved.