I am having recurring nightmares about water. These dreams involve floods or rising water. In almost all of the dreams my son is with me or in my thoughts. My overwhelming fear is not for me, but for him. I know this has something to do with him, I’m just curious about what the water has to do with it.

For example:

1. I was in a shopping mall with a friend, we watched from the top floor as the mall flooded. We were helpless and could not escape the rising water. I can remember thinking in the dream who would take care of my son if I died.

2. In some dreams I will be standing in a hallway or room that will suddenly fill with water--kind of like a rush of water from a raging river or a violent wave in the ocean. Again, I’m with my son and we’re trapped with no way out.

3. Several dreams involve driving off the road into a river or lake. I try furiouly to get myself and my son out, who is strapped into his car seat in the back seat.

4. The most recent dream I had involved a sinking ship (Titanic???). I was trying to get my son prepared (putting on his lifejacket, etc.) and I missed all the lifeboats. As we were trying to get into a lifeboat I fell into the water with my son in my arms. The water was freezing and I was trying to swim back to the boat so we could get out of the water, but I couldn’t swim with him in my arms. I woke up before I found out what happened.

Please let me know what you think. Thanks!

Kris, Age 25, Lawrence, KS, USA

Hi Kris -

Your dream makes me curious to know two things: First, are you a single mother, and second, do you worry about your son drowning in real life - say in a swimming pool accident, for example? Let’s address this second question first.

According to the National Swimming Pool Safety Committee, drowning is the second leading cause of accidental death around the home for children under five. 300 children under age 5 die each year in swimming pool accidents, and 2,000 more children under age five visit hospital emergency rooms for submersion injuries. Here are some of the sobering facts - as reported in a recent U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)report.

Seventy-five percent of the submersion victims studied by CPSC were between 1 and 3 years old; 65 percent of this group were boys. Toddlers, in particular, often do something unexpected because their capabilities change daily.

At the time of the incidents, most victims were being supervised by one or both parents.

Submersion incidents involving children almost always happen in familiar surroundings. Sixty-five percent of the incidents happened in a pool owned by the child’s family and 33 percent of the incidents happened in a pool owned by friends or relatives.

Pool submersions involving children happen quickly. A child can drown in the time it takes to answer a phone.

Survival depends on rescuing the child quickly and restarting the breathing process, even while the child is still in the water. Seconds count in preventing death or brain damage.

Child drowning is a silent death. There’s no splashing to alert anyone that the child is in trouble.

To read more about preventing pool accidents, visit the U. S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s report, and also visit the Foundation For Aquatic Injury Prevention’s Drowning Prevention Tips page. The more we all know, the more accidents we can prevent.

Now back to your dream. The reason I ask if you are a single parent is because you never mentioned your son’s father in any of your dream accounts. If you are a single parent, I am sure the responsibility of raising your child, while at the same time supporting yourself, weighs upon you to some extent. Even if you are not a single parent, the new responsibilities of motherhood are stressful enough! Water in dreams tends always to be associated with emotions, and with subconscious feelings and awarenesses. In your dreams, I suspect that the water rising symbolically represents occasional feelings of being emotionally overwhelmed at some of the challenges you currently are experiencing.

You clearly are an attentive and caring mother. I suspect these dreams will continue for you - from time to time - as you occasionally become exhausted or doubt your ability to meet the next school or doctor’s bill. But I also suspect that all your hard work in the present will bring you increased stability and confidence in your ability to meet future challenges. As you gradually learn to master the new roles of motherhood - parent, mother, provider, driver, protector, nurse, counselor, early morning companion - to name but a few - these dreams of being overwhelmed will subside. We wish you the best of success!