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Someone With A Toddler PLEASE Help?

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by Pete Incaviglia, Jul 7, 2010.

  1. Pete Incaviglia

    Pete Incaviglia Active Member

    My two-year-old daughter just woke up hysterical. She obviously had a nightmare. She says there are caterpillars in her bed. She won't sleep in it. At all.

    She wanted to sleep on the floor, which I was okay with. Then, when the lights went out and door closed she freaked again.

    She's now sleeping in our bed with my wife. I'm gonna sleep on the couch. I have a bad, bad feeling about this.

    What do I do?

    I told her tomorrow "daddy will get rid of all the caterpillars" and "mommy will buy some caterpillar spray for the room."

    I told her she can help us.

    I also thought of buying some pipe cleaners at a craft store and putting them in the bed for me to remove in front of her.

    How do I solve this problem and fast - so she doesn't think our bed is her bed tomorrow?
     
  2. YGBFKM

    YGBFKM Guest

    Don't have a toddler, but that sounds like night terrors. I had them when I was a kid off and on (no caterpillars were involved), but they never lasted more than a strange night here and there.
     
  3. outofplace

    outofplace Well-Known Member

    It's one night. Don't panic yet. But yes, telling her that you and her mommy will get rid of the caterpillars should help.
     
  4. Pete Incaviglia

    Pete Incaviglia Active Member

    I thought it was a night terror too.

    She did this once before. She was inconsolable.

    I just read about night terrors, the article said they occur in the first third of sleep, which is the case tonight - four hours into a 12-hour sleep.

    Problem is, my wife woke her from the terror when she found her on the floor (I was two floors down in the basement).

    I'm hoping we can make it through tonight and she forgets about it tomorrow.

    Her favorite aunt is coming to visit, so that should help.
     
  5. For some reason, I don't know if the pipe cleaners idea is a good one. But it might be a good idea to have her watch you take off all the sheets, wash them and inspect under the mattress, no? It seems like kids just like to be reassured.

    I'm about a year behind you with the kid, so I look forward to this sort of thing in the near future.
     
  6. crimsonace

    crimsonace Well-Known Member

    Night terrors are awful. When he was 1-2, we discovered our son would have them when we visited a Chinese restaurant, or were around a lot of Chinese people (we adopted him from China at 15 months), probably triggering latent fears of the orphanage.

    Some "experts" say the best thing to do is let the kid cry it out, but I've never been capable of doing that. I just hold him while it goes on (we put an old couch in his room in case we need to stay with him for the night, because rule No. 1 has always been that the kid never gets to develop the habit of sleeping in our bed).

    Wash the sheets, in plain view, just to reassure her.
     
  7. My parents are adopting a girl from China in the fall. She will be about 2 1/2 when they get her and they're really worried about how tough it's going to be on her. I can't imagine the confusion for a kid that age getting adjusted to something so different.
     
  8. Smash Williams

    Smash Williams Well-Known Member

    For "caterpillar repellent," put water in a spray bottle and use that. If she seems freaked out about it tomorrow, when you clean off and shake off the sheets, you can spray them with that before you put them back on. You can also leave the spray bottle in her room in case she needs a nighttime boost.
     
  9. Pete Incaviglia

    Pete Incaviglia Active Member

    Late night/early morning update. I'm not in bed, yet.

    My daughter, a chatty little catty, just kept talking in our bed. My wife had a enough. Faked a phone call to my sister, who is to visit tomorrow, and said "Don't come. Your niece won't go to bed."

    My daughter leaped out of our bed and made a bee line to hers.

    Problem solved.

    Just like that.

    Kids. Unreal, man.

    Although, when she called for me to tuck her in, she still said "Tomorrow you find caterpillars?"

    I told her yes.
     
  10. fishwrapper

    fishwrapper Active Member

    Get a water bottle. Add a couple drops of perfume or cologne.
    Go around and spray the hell out of the room.
     
  11. beanpole

    beanpole Member

    She may like being part of the solution (I have a 4-year-old).

    If Beansprout had this issue, I'd tell him that that caterpillars don't like rabbits or birds or bears or something -- then draw a picture and help him color it, and help him put on the wall next to the bed. It should reassure him because he'd know that *his* picture is keeping the creepies away.
     
  12. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    Great idea. Then get a stuffed animal and put it in a chair in the room and give the stuffed animal the water bottle. Then tell your kid that "Teddy is in charge of keeping the caterpillars away."

    Another one, is if you have a security system in your house, have her watch you set it and tell her, this keeps all of the caterpillars away.
     
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