What a nasty nightmare. There are some types of dreams that stay with you days or weeks after you’ve had them, and a dream where a child dies definitely falls under that group.
But what does it mean when you dream of a child dying? Typically, dreams of death point to a significant change or upheaval in waking life that will transform your life and outlook forever.
If you have children, and you dream of your own child dying, this demonstrates your fear of something bad happening to them, and a dream like this usually occurs when they have reached a milestone or important event in their life.
What Do Children Or Babies Mean In Dreams?
In order to understand what a dream of a child or a baby dying in a dream means, it’s worth looking at what children represent in dreams to begin with.
Babies in dreams refer to life-changing opportunities or important projects that are close to your heart, while children usually denote peace and happiness.
A child may also denote the sheer amount of potential you have, but haven’t utilized yet, or they can represent your own inner child, or wanting to return to a simpler time.
So to see a baby dying in your dreams may imply that there is a huge shift happening in your priorities, where something incredibly important to you is starting to mean less and less, or a project that’s come to define part of your life is drawing to a close.
A dream of a child dying may suggest that the opportunity for fulfilling an aspect of your potential is narrowing. Maybe a childhood dream is becoming less and less important or achievable the longer you go without doing anything about it.
Why Am I Dreaming Of A Child Dying?
It’s one of the scariest experiences your subconscious can throw you into, a dream of a child dying, but it’s also one of the most common. It would be very easy to assume that this awful nightmare is a prediction, but it’s far from it.
If you are a parent, and you dream of your child dying, this usually denotes your endless love for them, your constant anxiety that they will have a good life, and that you hope you’re doing a good job raising them.
It can make you more anxious that you feel you’re not good enough at raising your child, but this is a reflection of your fears, not a signal of how well you are doing.
It’s important to remember that most dreams that involve death point to change in waking life, and how you might be about to go through a big transition in your waking life.
This is especially true if you don’t have children in waking life, and you dream of a child dying. But it’s also useful to pay attention to how the child dies in your nightmare, as this can affect the meaning behind your dream.
If you dream that your child dies because of an animal attack, this suggests that you feel something is beyond your control or power in your waking life, and this is a source of stress.
An adult being responsible for the death of the child in your dream denotes the sheer amount of fear or pressure you’re currently under.
If you dream of your child dying, but you find a cure or another way to stop it, this denotes your ability to cope with great change and unexpected events in waking life.
Dreams Of Child Deaths And Parent Anxieties
It’s also important to note that dreams like this often occur when you are worried that your child is suffering in some aspect of waking life. Maybe they’ve become sick, and you hate that you can’t do a lot about it, and you just have to wait it out while you take care of them.
A dream like this may also be a simple manifestation of your fear of something terrible happening to your child, a loss so big that you can’t bear to voice it in waking life. Your subconscious gives your fear an outlet in this dream.
A nightmare of your child dying may happen when you’re comparing your child’s progress to others too much.
You’re so anxious that they should be doing well that you might forget that every child does things at their own pace. Progress is rarely a straight line that goes up and up!
You might be worried that they’re not doing the same things as fast as their peers, or they’re doing things too fast, in which case your subconscious is trying to process your anxieties, by giving them an outlet.
It just so happens that the outlet in this dream scenario is much worse than the cause.
Dreaming Of Your Own Child’s Death
This is an anxiety and a recurring nightmare that many parents have. A dream of your own child’s death denotes your worst fear.
You’ve spent so much time pouring every bit of love, care and attention into this small person, celebrating their wins and worrying about any mistakes you might be making, and this leaves such a profound impact on you that it’s no wonder you will worry about something bad happening to them.
A dream like this is very common when they’ve narrowly avoided an accident in waking life, they’ve had a huge meltdown, or you’re anxious about them generally.
Dreaming Of A Baby Or Child Choking
Raising a child is challenging at the best of times. It could be that you’ve already navigated several dangerous situations through no fault of your own, and you’re just waiting for the next one to reveal itself.
You’re expecting something bad to happen, so your dream unfortunately gives you this as a way of preparing you for any risks to your child.
A dream of your baby or child choking doesn’t mean that they will choke, but it represents your fear of this happening. It’s also connected to the anxiety that something medical will be wrong with them, and how you might react in an emergency.
Consider what your child was choking on in the dream, as this can denote specific anxieties.
If you dream of them choking on a toy, for example, this can suggest that you’re worried there isn’t a good enough balance between them enjoying themselves and you being able to relax in the knowledge that they are safe.
If you dream of a stranger’s child choking, this refers to pent-up frustration or anxiety. You may be hyper vigilant where you’re expecting danger from every corner, so your subconscious mind is fulfilling this expectation.
It calls upon you to find a healthy outlet for this negativity, so that you may move on and enjoy life at a better pace, rather than worrying about what might be around the corner.
A dream of a child or a baby choking may also denote that you feel under an incredible amount of pressure to solve a situation or find a solution to a large problem in waking life.
This problem is dominating your thoughts, and until you find a way to deal with it, your perception of things will be skewed for a while.
The urgency is reflected in the time sensitivity that this dream scenario presents, as there’s no time to waste when a child chokes.
A dream like this may be a call to find a solution as quickly as possible, or, in older dream interpretation, you need to find a way to relax, and the answer may come to you when you least expect it, exactly when you’re not looking for it.
Seeing A Stranger’s Child Die In A Dream
What an awful dream. The death of an unknown child in your dreams suggests that somewhere in waking life, you’ve lost sight of who you really are, and this is affecting your ability to connect with other people or create lasting connections that mean something to you.
It can denote how you feel empty or detached from other people, and this will cause you another set of problems if you don’t find time to connect with others soon.
A dream like this can be a message from your most vulnerable self: you’re lonely. Maybe you refuse to admit it, and you’re trying to carry on as well as possible, but if you keep ignoring it, it will only get worse.
It may also suggest that a particular relationship is making you feel suffocated, trapped, or that you cannot be your true self. It could be that someone wants to ‘improve’ you but not in a wholesome way – where perhaps you will never be enough for them, and that’s on them, not you.
A Child Drowning In Your Dream Meaning
A child that drowns in your dream refers to your feelings, and how they might be threatening to overwhelm you.
Consider what kind of water this poor child was drowning in. A swimming pool may suggest that you’re ignoring a minor problem, while an ocean denotes how out of control you feel things are in waking life.
A lake may be a call to ground yourself, to reconnect with the world around you.
It’s also worth remembering if the water the child was drowning in is clear or muddy. Muddy, dirty, or cloudy water denotes a lot of stress, exhaustion, and despair. You’re questioning your capabilities, unsure of whether this situation will best you.
Clear water in your dream denotes clarity, confidence, and surety. You may be going through a tough time, but you know you will get through it.
A dream of a child drowning may also occur when you feel a lack of power or agency in waking life. You feel you can’t change a situation that’s causing you a lot of stress, or you’re struggling with people who are causing you more negativity or grief than you realize.
It may even denote that you feel a childhood dream is no longer possible, or what you want from life is getting further and further from your reach.
This dream can also reflect your fear of having no say in things that affect you, rather than the possibility of being unable to change things in your life.
A Child Dying In A Car Accident In Your Dream
A dream where a child dies in a car accident points to a loss of control in your life. You may have given this to someone else, where they are making all of your decisions for you, or a situation has taken your freedom of choice from you.
Similarly, a dream like this is not a prediction of disaster or an accident. Instead, it refers to your doubt or fear that things may always be this difficult, rather than being a sign of future misfortune.
A dream like this may call on you to restore a more forward-thinking approach, where you can look forward to what the future might hold, instead of fearing it.
A Child Dying In A Fire In Your Dream
Dreaming that a child dies in a fire refers to internal conflict, but in a sense, this will make you bring about positive change in your life.
You may not know what path to take now, but through your determination for a better future, you will find your way.
Fire in dreams points to passion, change, and renewal, so take this as a positive sign for the future, in that you should strive to make your life the best it can be.
Seeing A Child Have A Life-Threatening Illness In Your Dream
All of the dreams on this list aren’t exactly pleasant, but this is among the most traumatic. Dreaming of a child going through a life-threatening illness such as cancer denotes a complicated situation in waking life that you know you’re just going to have to power through.
There are no shortcuts or quick fixes for circumstances like these, but the good news is that a dream like this is a mirror of your fear of being unable to alter your circumstances, rather than being a direct reflection of your current situation.
Final Thoughts
While nightmares of children dying can be very traumatic, they often have a lot to tell you that would otherwise go ignored if your subconscious chose a less painful dream symbol.
Usually, these nightmares are not warnings, but a reflection of your fear of something bad happening to your child, or being thrown into a situation that you cannot control in any aspect.
While some dreams can have a predictive nature, you’ll be relieved to know that a dream of a child dying is not one of them, and instead this is your subconscious calling on you to enact positive change, and to shape your future into something you really want.
It’s a call to resist the urge to settle for what fate gives you, for what you think is fine, but there’s nothing special about it. A dream like this is your subconscious urging you to think about what you want most, and how you can manifest it into your life.
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