As adults, we can always differentiate between reality and fiction. Kids, not so much. I found this out the hard way last night. I had put Emery down for bed around 8:30. She was doing her little “zombie rolls”, and dozing in and out. So, I decided to catch up on my True Blood while she was asleep and I was folding laundry. Well, turns out my little one was half awake, and at one point she sat up. I turned the TV to Sprout, and within a few minutes, she was back asleep.
I went for a run, and my husband laid with her for a bit before putting her in her crib. When I was done running, I went into her room to check on her and she was crying. But not a “Get me out of here!” crying, it was more of a “I’m scared to death” crying. And she was still asleep. So, I picked her up and brought her to our bed where she proceeded to freak out. Inconsolable crying and rolling around half asleep. I tried to wake her up, but she’d just throw herself backward and cry. I thought maybe she was teething and in pain. So I gave her some baby Orajel, and that just freaked her out even more. All I could do was hold her, and pray that she’d wake up- wake up. But no matter how many times I tried to nudge her or pick her up and calm her down, nothing worked. She was still in this half-asleep state.
Finally, I just prayed. I took her next door, and my mother took one look at her and said she was having nightmares. She asked me if we had watched anything scary or if my husband and I had been fighting. I told her no to the fighting, but that she kind of saw some of the TV show while she was half asleep. My mom, started to pray and kind of hum a lullaby, while I rocked her back and forth. This calmed her down a bit, but she was just drifting in and out of sleep. Every time her eyes closed completely she’d start to cry again. Then, she started sobbing, and by that point, her hair was soaked with tears and she was all red. My grandmother came in, and she also told me it looked like she was having nightmares. They both started praying for the nightmares to stop and I started to sing to her. After a few more minutes she finally stopped crying. It looked like she had woken up, looked around, and then fell back to sleep. To me, she looked exactly as she did when she was born. I tried to hand her off to my mother so I could shower, but she wasn’t having it. She clung to me so tightly. So I went back to our house and laid with her until I was sure she was done with the nightmares. She cuddled up to her daddy and sighed before finally dozing off.
I’ve never seen Emery do that. It freaked me out a little because she sounded so scared. The only way to stop a nightmare is to wake up, and she just wasn’t having it. So, I’ve decided no more TV for us while she’s awake unless it’s Sprout. And especially no TV before her bedtime. I can just imagine what all she caught a glimpse of even though she was half asleep. Witches chanting, vampire's attacking, and a lot of blood. She caught several of those scenes and I really believe that’s why she was having nightmares. I also believe that my mother and grandmother’s prayers really helped. When I finally made it to bed she snuggled up with me and all was peaceful. She didn’t stir or cry out at all the rest of the night.
