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From: ajs@hpfcla.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.kids
Subject: Re: nightmares
Message-ID: <32700039@hpfcla.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 19-Feb-86 12:15:00 EST
Article-I.D.: hpfcla.32700039
Posted: Wed Feb 19 12:15:00 1986
Date-Received: Mon, 24-Feb-86 08:31:01 EST
Organization: 19 Feb 86 10:15:00 MST
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There is a common conception that nightmares are typical and routine in
children around the ages of 4-6.  My daughter's not that old yet, so I
can't speak from personal experience.  But the "Handbook of Dreams",
a lengthy and scholarly (== many large words and long sentences :-) work
has a good chapter on children's dreams.  They say that this common
belief is a misperception.

Studies have apparently shown that, while children do have reasonably
predictable stages of dream development, nightmares are more the
exception than the norm.  They are never "normal".  I suspect they are
more memorable (for both children and parents) than typical dreams, so
they stand out.

Alan Silverstein