How do I stop my lucid dreams?

I've always had very vivid dreams my whole life, but they have gotten out of control recently. It's scary and I don't want to go to sleep at night.

It started about 3 years ago I started having dreams where I would wake up (not knowing I was still asleep) and walk out of my bedroom. Everything seemed normal. I'd try to turn on the light and it wouldn't come on, or it would come on very dimly. Something would feel wrong and I wouldn't know what. I'd get the feeling that there was someone outside but I was always too afraid to look. So I'd go back to bed, sometimes I could still see myself laying there and sometimes I couldn't. This would happen several times a night and after a few times I'd realize it was a dream but it would keep happening. I'd wake up, the lights wouldn't come on, I'd go back to bed. Then I figured out that if I stood there and screamed in the middle of the living room I could wake myself up. Once I figured that out I didn't have them for a few months.

Then a couple months ago they started again. Now I wake up (still asleep) and it's just like it's morning. I get my kids out of bed and start our day as normal. This will sometimes go on for a couple hours, we're just going about our normal routine. Then something off will happen. Sometimes I'll call my husband and he'll say "you know you're asleep right?" Or one of the kids will do something really strange. The other night I realized I was asleep when my oldest son walked across the kitchen carrying the dog's head.

Last night may have been the strangest yet. I had had a few of these dreams and I was getting really frustrated because every time I thought I woke up I wasn't awake. In my dream my son had climbed into bed with me and it scared me that I wasn't really there for him because I was still asleep. I couldn't wake myself up and I didn't want to lay there and scream until I woke up with him watching. So I decided to surrender to the dream, and live in my dream world because it would be better for the kids than having them watch me scream. (I know this doesn't make any sense, but I guess I don't think logically in my dream.) So me and the kids went about the whole day with me never trying to wake up. Finally it was bedtime so we all went to bed and a little while later I woke up for real. Neither of the kids were in my bed, and everything was normal. I pinched myself to prove that I was really awake.

So now here I am and I really want to stop these dreams and just get some sleep. Can someone help me?

I have lucid dreams every day and I have no intentions of stopping them. Dreams teach - instead of trying to stop them, try to figure out how to gain more control of your dreams and have some fun.

although it seems a little overwhelming right now you have been blessed with a great gift.

practice doing a reality check everytime you wake up to determine if you are dreaming or not. once you determine that you are dreaming, you can do whatever you want: fly, go to paris, meditate, drive a tank, ask your kids what they represent in your dream, ask the dream itself to show you something.

there are unlimited possibilities, take advantage of them!

Thank you for the advice. Sometimes I remember to pinch myself when I wake up and sometimes I don't for a couple hours. I've thought about doing something fun once I realize I'm dreaming but I'm afraid I'll start sleep walking and hurt myself or someone else. I've never sleep walked before but it still scares me. Maybe I will try asking my son questions. Maybe if I figure out what the dreams mean they'll stop. Does that make sense?

I used to have fun in my dreams. But now that I have kids it scares me more.

when you are dreaming, your body almost always goes into sleep paralysis to prevent you from acting out your dreams. sleep walking is usually in other stages of sleep, while people are not having these vivid types of dreams. so if you dont have a history of it, i would definitely not worry about that.

the whole point of this site is to help people remember, learn from, control, and become lucid in their dreams. many of us spend a great deal of time and energy trying to get to the point you are at. take full advantage of it. lucid dreaming is a marvelous way to do have wild adventures and / or to undertake some spiritual / psychological explorations, and everything in-between.

there are tons of resources on this site dealing with dream control, reality checks (pinching yourself is not always a reliable check!), research, ideas of things to do in lucids, other peoples experiences... the list goes on. i would recommend reading up on the site then picking up Stephen LaBerge's "Exploring the world of lucid dreams."

it might be concerning if this increased vividness came on all of a sudden accompanying a head injury, change in medication, or some traumatic event but this doesnt seem to be the case for you. i wouldnt stress about the kids so much (i have a 5 yr old girl and another on the way in nov) everyone needs personal internal time to sleep and dream, even parents. if they need you and signal to you loud enough in the real world, you will wake up no matter how vivid your dreams may be. so enjoy it as much as you can! i am jealous!

As Stephen LaBerge answers in his book, control of dreams can turn nightmares into nice dreams. If there is no light, pull a super flashlight out of your pocket. Be creative and you can take control of your dreams.
Good Luck!