DS1 (almost three) has been having some really vivid dreams over the last couple of months. He often wakes asking for a toy that we don't have, which I'm guessing he's dreamed of having. He's also woken up with a few nightmares here and there.

Last night he wouldn't go to sleep because he was scared. He was saying that there was a person in his room that was red with green eyes and big (sounds like a spiderman character to me, DH let him watch an episode the other day, but that's a whole other thread...). After much listening and cuddling and explaining that if there was someone there that he didn't want to be there he could tell them to go away and that they would, that mummy and daddy would always keep him safe etc, it got to 10.30pm. He was refusing to go into his room, but said that the person wasn't there. He was saying they would come back later. So, DH and I decided that he could sleep in our bed. Not ideal, but it was late and I we all just needed a good nights sleep.

This morning when we got up he said the person was there. I suggested he tell them to go away. He did and said that they had gone. I reinforced what we'd been talking about last night and left it at that.

But, I'm guessing we're going to be in for the same thing again tonight... While we don't mind him sleeping in our bed every now and then, I don't want it to become the norm. So I need ideas on how to handle it if this comes up again tonight. I do have a sense that he's realised that the 'scared' thing has traction with DH and I and that he may have started playing to it a little bit last night. But, regardless of whether he is playing to it, or genuinely scared, I'm not willing to force him to lay in his bed. It's important to us that he knows that Mummy and Daddy will always acknowledge his feelings and not down play them.

So, do you have any ideas on how we could tackle this tonight?