A Peaceful Nights' Sleep For You and the Kids - the New Age Way

Even under the best of circumstances, getting your children to go to sleep can be a daunting task.  This is especially true if we're talking about an infant or a child who suffers from night terrors.  But, there are a couple things you can do in order to help the kids fall into a nice, deep, restful sleep which might actually enable you to get a few winks as well.

Firstly, there's lavender.  Since I've become a mother, lavender has been a life-saver on more than one occasion.  This one you can even use for the smallest among us.  Fill the nursery with fresh lavender, or get some of that Johnsons and Johnsons OR baby organics lavender baby wash - that stuff is fantastic!

If nightmares seem to be the issue (whether or not the child is old enough to tell you outright) - try cleansing the room of negative energy.  This can be accomplished in a number of ways, but the quickest, easiest, and cheapest in my experience is to do a quick sweep with a sage stick.  You can pick them up in just about any Wiccan/new age shop.  If you're in California, you can even pick some, dry it, and bundle it yourself.

Open all the windows in the room, to let the negativity escape easier.  Grab your sage stick and light it, like you would incense.  Walk around the room moving the lit, and now smoking, sage stick in a circular motion as you concentrate on cleansing the room of any and all negative energy.  "Tell" the energy that it's not welcome there, as you concentrate on replacing it with light, peaceful, positive energy.

When you're done with this walk-through, leave the windows open for a few minutes and then close them, so as not to let the negativity back in.  The room should now be clean of negative energies.

There are plenty of other methods as well.  And, if you need something stronger for the task, you could place black tourmaline, kyanite, or tourmanilated quartz in the room, particularly around window sills and the like.  There's also the use of candle and color magic(k) to clear the area.

If your child is older (at LEAST 5) and complaining of nightmares, try placing a piece of black tourmaline under their pillow.  And, of course, there's always the use of a dream catcher.  You could also try programming your child's dreams (clicky) so that they'll know how to tell the bad dream to go away and start having a good dream, even in the middle of their dream-state.

There are plenty of things you can do, even far more than I've mentioned, but definitely make use of the lavender and/or chamomile.  It's a relaxing aromatherapeutic scent that will lull your little one (or even you) into a nice, restful slumber.

Programming Your Child's Dreams for a Better Night's Sleep

Night terrors are a fairly common occurance among young children. But, there are ways that you can help your child sleep better. One tactic I've used with my little ones is dream programming.

Since my eldest was just a baby, she's had a thing for unicorns. She had a stuffed unicorn that she carried everywhere with her, by it's horn.

I started helping her sleep through the night, as an infant, by stroking her hair while describing a peaceful place that she could go to in her dreams. It started with, "close your eyes. You're in a forest, trees everywhere, with a little pond close by. You hear the waterfall gently splashing against the pool of water..." She may not have understood at least half the words I was using, but she did understand the concept, and she found it relaxing.

Once she developed her obvious love/obsession with unicorns, I added to the description. It gradually became known as "The land of the unicorns." I haven't had to do much to alleviate fears since then, even though grandpa insists on watching all kinds of horror films, with her in the room. She's had a total of maybe 3 nightmares in her 6 years, not too bad. Any time she has had a nightmare, I simply remind her of the place we created, the land of the unicorns. She was usually still asleep when I noticed that her dreams weren't very happy, but she was awake enough that the description was heard, and it was obvious that she settled immediately back into her "safe warm place".

If you have older children, you can also try black tourmaline under their pillow. It's a type of crystal/rock that is supposed to help with bad dreams, ward off negativity and harmful spirits, etc. My mother actually uses this tactic with my 6 year old step sister. It's worked for her. But, again, I don't recommend it for younger children, as they may hurt themselves or place the crystal in their mouths.