We all want a good night’s sleep. We want that kind of sleep for our children, but we also want it for ourselves. There are ways you can make sure that your sleep tonight will be a good one.

There are many ways to help our children but don’t forget that many of these ways may work to help us.

One part of sleeping that sometimes interrupts a good night is nightmares. We know that children dream and unfortunately even toddlers have nightmares. Children of this age have difficulty separating what is real from what isn’t.

Your child’s imagination might be so great that you will even have difficulty convincing him that the monsters or fierce dogs in his dreams are not real.

Even older children at times are bothered by nightmares. Talk about these problems to help your child of any age have fewer dreams that are nightmares and that interrupt his sleep.

So how can you help?

1. You can help him by reassuring him that it is a dream. Talk with him about the difference. Let him hear you tell him the differences between a good dream and a bad dream.

2. Help him have less stress in his life. Think about what he is watching on television or games he is playing that cause him to feel stressed.

3. Avoid scary bedtime stories. Some stories are really quite frightening and maybe should be totally eliminated.

4. Keep his bedtime routine very soothing and relaxing. Pick out an appropriate book to share while he gets ready to relax for the night.

5. Don’t roughhouse just before he goes to bed.

6. Avoid mentioning scary things just before bedtime. Don’t talk about things that upset or bother him.

Encourage your child to share his bad dreams with you. Sometimes this alone helps him. If he is young and doesn’t have a lot of words, help him. If he talks about a bear, ask him if the bear was scary. Be sure not to ask if the bear was trying to eat someone because that might make things even worse.

You might not want to talk about anything that scares him such as bed bugs biting when you say for him to sleep tight. This is a good time to talk about the old Spanish saying abut “May you sleep with little angels” might be a better way to say goodnight.

But don’t forget about yourself. Be careful about what you read about or watch before going to bed. You need a good night yourself. Look at the list above that we wrote for children. Know that this list is for adults too.

Make your time before bed one that is filled with relaxation and pleasant thoughts. Think about the many positives that were part of your day that just finished.

Be careful not to spend your time worrying about what tomorrow holds.

Take a few deep breaths and remember what was good about today and will be even better tomorrow.

Cynthia Martin is the founder of the First Teacher program and former executive director of Parenting Matters Foundation, which published newsletters for parents, caregivers and grandparents.