One of the awful nightmares for parents is a dream about child dying. If a child’s life is in danger in a dream this can be rather unsettling.
Often when you are having this type of dream it is to do with your fears about the direction your children’s lives are going and how their future will pan out, combined with a desire to protect them from any harm.
To dream of your child dying may signify your anxiety about your child’s well-being.
It may also mean that you are doubting yourself as a parent. The child’s death in the dream can help you confront those worries and these questions.
Many people who experience these types of dreams immediately search for an answer to the meaning.
To help ease any worries you may be having, you can try to look at your child’s death in your dream symbolically instead of literally.
Why Do I Dream About Child Dying
When you dream of the death of a child, it can be a way for your subconscious mind to offer comfort.
Dreams about child dying may be caused by your worries about that child’s safety in waking life.
As parents, we encourage our children to learn and grow as individuals.
We give them the love and discipline they need, so they can eventually become successful adults.
Though it is a long and exhausting process, parenting is very gratifying.
This could be seen in your dream, where you are watching your child die over several years.
You may fear the loss of those you hold dear. The love that you feel toward this child is overpowering—a force that unites all parents together.
It is probably not a stretch to imagine that biologically or developmentally there are reasons why we dream of children.
Perhaps dreaming of your child or the death of a child is rooted in anxiety over the milestones you have (or have not) reached.
While we may never know the exact reasons why we dream of children, it can be useful to reframe our views and think about the many ways that dreams can offer insights into our development.
Dreams about your child dying could also be a manifestation of your anxieties about a child’s development.
Every child goes through important developmental milestones. Our journey as parents continues indefinitely, and we never know what to expect.
Although every child is different, and some children take longer to master certain skills than others, it’s important not to compare the development of one child with that of another.
Such comparisons often cause unnecessary anxiety, and they distract us from focusing on our parenting journey.
These are some dreams from different people about their children dying in different ways.
1. Dreams of a choking child
A child choking in our dream often reflects our unconscious feelings about ourselves or about something we’ve said or done.
Other times, it’s about anxiety regarding the well-being of our children or someone else’s child.
If we dreamed of a parent-child interaction in which our child was choking on food, the dream is likely connected with our anxieties about parenthood and what we might say or do at some point in the future.
A choking sensation may also mirror feelings about a situation we’re currently dealing with, such as a project or personal situation that’s giving us trouble and that we feel stuck on how to move forward with.
2. Dreams of an unknown child dying
It can hurt to lose touch with your true self if you have been raised in a troubled or unhealthy household.
To dream of a child dying but you do not know them, or they are someone close to you, often indicates that we have lost our ability to connect with others in a meaningful way.
It is only by trying to connect with others that we can fill the emptiness within ourselves.
This is the child within you telling you to reconnect with yourself.
3. Dreams of a drowning child
Dreaming of a child drowning indicates that you are feeling emotionally drained and stressed out, or that your individuality is in danger of being threatened.
The murky water in this dream may indicate that you feel that others are attempting to weigh you down.
Psychologist Carl Jung believed that dreams of drowning can symbolize any universal human experience or feeling of being isolated, displaced, or caught off guard by the desires and needs of others.
4. Dreams of a child having illness
If the child in your dream was suffering from a life-threatening illness, you may have felt distressed upon waking.
You may have been worried about something troubling you. If the death of the child appeared to be highly significant in the dream, then it may be that you have a guilty conscience about something.
5. Dreams of a child dying in a car accident
If you dream that your child is killed in a car accident, this symbolizes an inner conflict of some kind.
I think it’s important to listen to your dreams, because the more we tend to them, the more they will help us.
If you were the driver in your dream, this means that you need to be conscious of a sense of control in your life.
If you dreamed that you saw cars crashing into each other, this may mean that you feel as though others are in control of your life.
6. Dreams of a child dying in a fire
If you dream about a fire, it might symbolize the conflicts going on inside you.
It’s not usually about your child unless it’s your own home burning in the dream.
Dreams about fires often denote the purity of purpose, especially if you see your home burning.
Putting a positive spin on this dream could indicate that your child will succeed.
Editorial pick: What Do Teenagers Worry About
Summary
The anxiety and fear associated with dream images of our children dying—especially when those dreams awaken us in the middle of the night—can be unsettling, to say the least.
If you have nightmares about your son or daughter dying, try to let go of any worries in your life, and embrace change and new opportunities.
A dream about a child dying points to the sensitive, emotional side of your being.
They can bring up feelings of childlike aliveness in you and may make you feel particularly alive.
If the babies in your dream were multiple, you may be feeling especially alive and sensitive.
Related Post: My Baby Doesn’t Like Me
Frequently Asked Questions
What does it mean when your child dies in a dream?
In a dream, the death of a child can represent the end of childhood and the beginning of maturity, says psychologist Edith Loewenberg.
As we grow up, our children become adults, so if you dream about the death of a child, ask yourself how it makes you feel. Are you sadder or wiser as a result?
Why did I dream my daughter died?
In theory, a dream death does not automatically mean a physical death; in practice, however, the dreamer’s subconscious often envisions his or her demise when death occurs in a dream.
The subconscious may even posit a specific cause of death—such as an illness contracted from another person—or it may simply project an unexplained, sudden loss of life.
What does death symbolize in a dream?
According to Carl Jung, dreams about death are actually about changes in waking life.
He believed that the subconscious mind equated death in a dream with the end of life as the dreamer knows it.
This means that if you have a dream about dying, it is likely an expression of concern about some aspect of your waking life.
Iesha is a loving mother of 2 beautiful children. She’s an active parent who enjoys indoor and outdoor adventures with her family. Her mission is to share practical and realistic parenting advice to help the parenting community becoming stronger.
