Soothing Nightmares & Night Terrors

[iriedanym]

A dear friend of mine is the adopted father of two wonderful boys, aged 3 and 5. The youngest boy constantly wakes up from night terrors, screaming and has a hard time articulating what is scaring him. What oils would you suggest to help? I have heard Baku helps. I'm trying to compile a list so I can send oils to my friend and see if it helps. Thanks.

[Honor]

A dear friend of mine is the adopted father of two wonderful boys, aged 3 and 5. The youngest boy constantly wakes up from night terrors, screaming and has a hard time articulating what is scaring him. What oils would you suggest to help? I have heard Baku helps. I'm trying to compile a list so I can send oils to my friend and see if it helps. Thanks.

 

just putting this out there...but lavendar may help promote more restful sleep. The lab doesn't sell pure notes though, but maybe something like Twilight or Oneiroi .

 

If you want just lavendar, you might want to try it as an oil applied to his bed linens or something.

 

ETA: I didn't even really read the other part of the description of Oneiroi..just the notes... not trying to give him more nightmares!

Edited November 20, 2005 by HonorAlexandria

[northatlantic]

A dear friend of mine is the adopted father of two wonderful boys, aged 3 and 5. The youngest boy constantly wakes up from night terrors, screaming and has a hard time articulating what is scaring him. What oils would you suggest to help? I have heard Baku helps. I'm trying to compile a list so I can send oils to my friend and see if it helps. Thanks.

 

looked over a few aromatherapy websites, and they say lavender, neroli, sandalwood and frankincense are all good for sleep and relaxing. As someone who HATES lavender with a passion, I don't have any recs there but for neroli and sandalwood, Lorelai is very soft and soothing, I've worn it to sleep before, although not specifically for nightmares/night terrors.

[laochodia]

Someone on the forum made a spray of Dragon's Milk and I think something else to help with monsters/nightmares.

[iriedanym]

Someone on the forum made a spray of Dragon's Milk and I think something else to help with monsters/nightmares.

 

I read that, and that's what got me to thinking about collecting some scents to help fight off the nightmares.

[Blood onmy hands]

I would actually have suggested Dragon's Milk as well . Just because lavender is one of those things that I've never really found soothing, the smell actually puts me off a bit. But every time that I babysit, the children love Dragon's Milk. I've had to give up several imps of it because the children wanted their own vial. I think that candy-ish smells in general are often appealing/comforting to younger ones (and me, lol).

[oakmoss]

Dragon's Milk is a great suggestion, and I also recommend Penitence, which has soothed me back to sleep on many a disturbed night. You might also suggest homepathic remedies for your friend's child -- there are specific ones for night terrors for children and unspecified fear. I've found Coffea Cruda to be a great remedy at night -- its purpose is to combat sleeplessness with overactive thoughts, and it works well when you wake from bad dreams. Kids can take homeopathic sugar pellets easily, as they are so tiny.

[lookingglass]

Someone on the forum made a spray of Dragon's Milk and I think something else to help with monsters/nightmares.

That was me (in the BPAL and kids thread...). It works wonders with my son, four years old, who was having night terrors. I told him that it was magical mommy dragon's milk, and that a mother dragon looks after her babies so fiercely that no monster or nightmare would DARE come near. We spray it all around his room, in his closet, sometimes on the sheets and under the bed. I used one imp in a 2 oz bottle with a few drops of perfumers alcohol (you could use 100 proof vodka or Everclear or leave it out completely, just shake it before you use it...)to allow the oil to disperse into the distilled water. (so nothing funky grows in there).

 

Dragon's Blood is very magical (it can be used for just about anything to boost a spell~strength, courage, love, luck, protection), and vanilla is so comforting and soothing.

 

Having a predictable and loving bedtime routine is also key. My son likes a warm bath, to 'write' in his journal (I do the writing, usually...it is nice to keep a record of his funny antics) a story (just one...too many can be overstimulating), and a song.

 

Good luck to them...and you!

[ladyfair]

I have suffered from night terrors and I think the scents that worked the best for me were lavender and ylang ylang. Another good tip is if he is having them at the same time on a regular basis, wake him up about thirty minutes before he normally goes into a night terror and talk to him for a few minutes. Also, most kids that suffer night terrors grow out of it between the ages of five and eight. Hope that helps.

P.S. Warm milk helps too, but is not for everyone so no guarantees

[SeaMonkey]

Twilight is very soothing. Baku is great, I took it when I was having vivid dreaming and didn't dream at all. www.mylipstuff.com has a spray called "no more monsters" that might help

[Wench457]

Oh dear. My son, now 2, had night terrors for weeks last year. I can't really add anything to the suggestions above, although I did just try Somnus last night, and found it very soothing.

 

I did a bunch of online research about night terrors when my son was suffering though. A lot of people suggested leaving a window open or making sure the child's feet are not covered up at night, since being too hot seems to trigger them. It worked like a charm for my son. Best of luck to your friends!

[iriedanym]

Twilight is very soothing. Baku is great, I took it when I was having vivid dreaming and didn't dream at all. www.mylipstuff.com has a spray called "no more monsters" that might help

 

I lucked out and got some Baku, Twilight, Temple of Dream, Somnus, and some Dove's Heart on the way. Since several members have suggested that Dragon's Milk helps, I'm going to see about getting more of that as well (although I'm afraid the red might stain since when I applied it I stained a bit of my shirt for a bit).

 

I just wanted to thank everyone for your suggestions thus far.

[PersimmonSeeds]

I searched through existing posts regarding dreams, but none of them helped me to the extent I needed.

I have a very dear friend going through a stressful time. She experiences horrible nightmares often, but recently they have turned into vivid, gorey night terrors that she wakes up from screaming and/or crying.

 

I want to help her as much as I can and want to get her a few scents.

She is a bit picky, though. As far as I know she doesn't mind lavender, so I looked into TKO atmosphere spray but it seems pretty covetted right now.

 

I would love to get her an atmosphere spray, but a perfume oil would be fine as well.

 

Her favorite scent is Elegba and she loves vanilla. I don't think she likes almond or anything too heavily spiced or 'dirty.'

[Teamama]

TKO & Somnus both smell great, but Baku is the "nightmarebane." It's got lavender, and some other sharp herbal smells going on.

It's not dirty, but it smells more purposeful than pretty.

 

I sure hope she gets relief soon!

 

None of my peeps have night terrors, so I don't have any useful insights on bad nightmares. All my experiences with vivid, gorey dreams were due to pregnancy. Does your friend know what's making her dreams so intense and frightening? Is this a response she's had before to high stress? If it's something new, please encourage her to check in with to her health care team about it.

[t_for_tau]

You might want to ask for recommendations in the TAL subforum, too!