Thread: Do you talk with children about LDs ?

I've been meaning to introduce my small cousins into lucid dreaming, they are amazing people to talk with and they always like to listen to my dream adventures.

They make some nice faces when I tell them about dream control and especially the boy hears like I'm telling a star wars tale.

I ask one of acquaintance (5 years old) and i ask him about dream and he start to describe them but i didn't listen really i just want to know he can recall or not

children usually remember their dreams, I think the reason is they don't have mental engagement

Not sure if this counts but my great uncle (82 years old) had alzheimer's and he thought he was like 10 or 11. Whenever i went over to visit him, we would talk about dreams a lot and i would tell him about me controlling my dreams. He would always say he will 'try it tonight' so he could learn to fly, and i would tell him different ways to do it like jetpack, wings, or superjumping, etc. I remember he'd get so excited to try it out.

It happened about 4-5 times, and everytime he woke up, he couldn't remember our past dream conversations. And he'd start telling me about last night's dream again, and i would tell him about me controlling my dreams, and him wanting to try it and getting excited. It was the same routine everytime. Heck, he'd even say "you're a very smart lady, miss." because he didn't realize I was his grandchild. And it went on for the duration of my visits until he passed away. I never really told anyone about this, only my mom and sister know because they were there with us sometimes. We never talked about it either, because my mom and sister don't care about my dreaming life, and to be honest, for me it was a very sad and very special memory at the same time, so I felt like if I told other people, it wouldn't be 'our' special memory anymore, plus I never really had anyone to tell it to, as it isn't exactly the best conversation starter. But i realized it's stupid to think that way, so I wanted to share it in this thread.

My 3-year-old son "E" often remembers his dreams and he'll describe them to me. A while back, he heard me talking about my dreams one day and got really interested in the whole concept of a "lucid dream".

Later, E was telling me about a dream that he'd had, and the conversation went like this:

E: "I dreamed I saw a fan."
Me: "Oh yeah? What did the fan do?"
E: "It was turning because I plugged in a timer! The timer said 8 minutes! 8 minutes!! I set the timer for 8 minutes!"
Me: "Did you know that you were having a dream?"
E: "I did. <pause> That means that's a lucid dream!"
Me:

Since then he's had probably 4 or 5 other lucid dreams (or at least what he and I believe were lucid dreams). The vast majority of his dreams are still non-lucid, but not bad for a kid who's only months out of diapers!

As for his non-lucids, they tend to reflect very concrete fears or desires. For example, he has a lot of dreams where he is an adult and can drive himself to grandma's house whenever he wants. But recently he'd confessed to us a fear that the stars will all burn out. This carried over to his dreams, and when he looked up at the night sky, he watched as all the stars went dark one by one. Poor kid!

i doubt a child would comprehend consciousness

Originally Posted by CanisLucidus

My 3-year-old son "E" often remembers his dreams and he'll describe them to me.

Your son is lucky I bet that if you keep talking and listening to him about dreams he will become a natural lucid dreamer very soon. It would be interesting to make some research with kids

Originally Posted by acillis

i doubt a child would comprehend consciousness

I know my four year old could comprehend it: what is real and not real are major topic for him as he learns that monsters are not real but tigers are; he has a very strong analytical mind - now he may be wrong of course, and stubborn, and inexperienced, but he regularly surprises me by how much he comprehends already. He has a strong sense of self, and of course an overblown sense of his own importance. He knows what was a dream versus waking, and has told me about his dreams at times.

My older son who is seven will have long existential philosophical or theological arguments with me, and he's got some excellent point. On the other hand, while he says that monsters are "of course not real" but he thinks that ghosts are. He has described dreams to me, and I know he used to have problems with sleep paralysis.

Both of my boys have interesting points to add to dream interpretation, and I do talk with them about LD, though I have not yet heard from either of them that they are interested in trying it - it's more of a hobby that their mom is pursuing.

We were talking the other day about how you could not prove that something was not real or anyway how that was much harder to prove. And my older son was saying that if ghosts are real they could be invisible, but that he is starting to think that they are not real because then they would have attacked him by now. I pointed out that what if they were real but could not touch anything or anyone, or be like a gust of wind. My younger son chimed in what if it is not a windy day. Etc.

Originally Posted by VagalTone

Your son is lucky I bet that if you keep talking and listening to him about dreams he will become a natural lucid dreamer very soon. It would be interesting to make some research with kids

Thanks, VagalTone. I'd love if he were to develop the ability to lucid dream at will. Hopefully there'll be no need for him to pour blood, sweat, tears, and WBTB's into frantic, obsessive LD attempts like his old man.

Kids seem to just start from a much better place to learn about subjects related to imagination. While adults learn to acquire lots of self-limiting beliefs, kids possess a flexibility of mind and just interest in the world around them that I think is a big help for practices like dream incubation and lucid dreaming. With adults, there's a lot more worrying, cynicism, hurrying, and single-mindedness.

Originally Posted by JoannaB

I pointed out that what if they were real but could not touch anything or anyone, or be like a gust of wind. My younger son chimed in what if it is not a windy day. Etc.

So cute! Sounds like a fun pair of little ones.

Originally Posted by CanisLucidus

I'd love if he were to develop the ability to lucid dream at will.

Hmmm, now i am sure he will !

I've been thinking of talking about dreams with my little 5-year-old brother, but whenever I ask him about his dreams he never remembers them. Or doesn't want to tell me about them.
I do tell him about my dreams sometimes..

He's just like that, sometimes he won't even tell you what he had for lunch at playschool.

where children are retards, don't have minds at all, cannot make decisions, don't know what they like or dislike etc etc etc.

Lol. That brings back some memories, where adults would talk down to me, and I would get so frustrated by their limited comprehension as well as my limited expressive capabilities. Oye.

Anyway, really cool. I do think that kids have an edge to LD given their openness and uncrushed-ness state of being. I've tried to talk to my 6yo about lucid dreaming, more like hey, have you tried x,y, z? or what if scenarios....I like to keep things open ended and unanswered(by me, he finds his best answer and self-test/experiment) to teach him to think for himself, and stay creative. I imagine though with different ages one would approach the subject with different parameters....

Originally Posted by Killing

I've been thinking of talking about dreams with my little 5-year-old brother, but whenever I ask him about his dreams he never remembers them. Or doesn't want to tell me about them.
I do tell him about my dreams sometimes..

He's just like that, sometimes he won't even tell you what he had for lunch at playschool.

You know the thing about kids is that they go through phases: shy and then outgoing, reluctant to tell you anything and then eager to tell you everything. There was a time when my older boy refused to tell me anything about how his day went, but now I hear all kinds of stuff. Give it some time, and then try again. Chances are your brother will eventually reach a phase where he will be more willing to talk with you as long as you are willing to listen.

Eh, he is pretty shy and keeps to himself. Surely he'll come out of his bubble soon enough.