Waking from bad dreams

[Kalei]

When I use to have a dog, if she was dreaming and it looked like she may be scared, then I would gently rub her and say her name and she would wake up I do the same for my cat now when she looks like he's haveing a bad dream.

[Sophist]

Neither answer is the right one for me, really.


My two girls sometimes seem like they are having nightmares. Keisha more frequently, and seems much more upset. Cadet not so often, but still occasionally.

Whenever I hear either one whimpering a lot or crying or seeming to be distressed by their dreams, I do not rush over and wake them up. I do talk to them a bit in a very calm, low, quiet voice--- pretty much the same voice I use to soothe them when they seem unsettled or fearful when they are awake. It almost never wakes them up, but they seem much calmer even when they sleep through it.


ETA: None of mine have ever been fear-biters, but it still seems like a bad idea to head over and touch a sleeping, frightened, probably disoriented animal.

[dab_20]

Nope. Sammy used to have nightmares and would bark, cry, and shake. I used to wake him up and one time I got bit, it drew blood. So now I just talk to them in a soothing voice and it seems to help.