If you’ve ever asked yourself “why do I dream about my child getting hurt?” you probably are going to suffer from mixed emotions. After all, it’s not normal for a parent to wish any kind of harm to their child.
It doesn’t matter how “bad” or “misguided” the kid has grown up to become. Most parents’ natural instinct is not to harm their children.
If you’re feeling conflicted about your relationship with your child, it’s not uncommon for you to have a dream where something bad happens to your kid. But generally speaking, this type of dream is not prophetic nor is it a form of wish fulfillment.
For you to truly understand the meaning of this type of dream, you have to take a step back and ask a more fundamental question.
What Does Dreaming About My Child Represent?

The interesting about dreaming of your child getting harmed is that you don’t have to have a child. You may be a single person, and in your dream, you become a parent and something bad happens to your kid and you feel lousy about it.
Your Child Represents Your Ability to Create a Legacy

But what this really tells you is that you have to wrap your head around the meaning of the child in your dream. To dream about grown children is a representation of your ability to create or set a legacy.
You don’t have to have kids for this. When you become part of a team and you do your work and you lay some foundation down for the future of that institution or establishment, you’re laying down a legacy. You may be thinking that you’re just another face in the crowd or just somebody who somehow played a minor role in the development of that institution or company, but your efforts have had an effect.
This shouldn’t be all that confusing because every action you take, whether you’re a member of an organization or a group, has a consequence. After all, for every action, there is going to be a reaction.
Your Child Represents Your Creative Capacity

So, your children in your dream are just simply symbols of your creative capacity.
You can be childless. You can be sterile. It doesn’t matter. You have an impact.
The problem is people have a tough time seeing themselves as parents because they have become blind to their creative power. This is tied to an earlier idea of the inner child.
But the problem is you’re having inner issues with your ability to create.
Issues with Your Creative Capacity
Maybe you think you are not getting the kind of recognition that you deserve. Maybe this has happened for so long that you feel that you don’t really have much of an impact. In other words, your ability to turn your inner child into a real-life progeny in your dreams had died.
What your subconscious is telling you is that this has never gone away. Your creative powers will always have an impact whether you choose to recognize them or not, or whether you choose to be aware of them or not.
The fact that there is a conflict between your sense of lack of appreciation and powerlessness and the deep reality of your creative power is causing your subconscious to represent in your dreams your parenthood or your ability to produce progeny.
There’s of course a lot of negative emotions wrapped up in this. Part of you feels that you’re not ready. Part of you feels that you’re not capable of dealing with the consequences of your decisions.
Whatever the case may be, it seems so much and you feel overwhelmed.
What Does It Mean to Dream About Your Child Getting Hurt?

It is within this context of bringing forth a child that you have to begin your analysis.
If you dream about your child getting hurt, a part of you would feel a connection to the child. You feel responsible for what happened.
Maybe you’re thinking that you put them in the wrong position and now they got hurt. Maybe you’re thinking that you made the wrong decision and now they’re put in a vulnerable position.
It Can Represent Guilt

What your subconscious is really telling you here is that your protective instinct has gone haywire, and oftentimes this is the kind of emotional signals you send yourself when you’re feeling guilty.
Maybe you are like a lot of people and you do things just to do things. You know you are able to make an impact in the world, but you don’t want to see things through.
Maybe you’ve had your heartbroken in the past. Maybe it just seems that’s just too much of a hassle or people have just let you down.
Whatever the case may be, you just want to avoid responsibility so you just wanna do what’s expected and call it a day.
But the reality is you’re sending signals to the Universe. What you think about, the way you express yourself, and of course, your decisions can and do have an impact. And just because you refused to take responsibility for the ultimate reverberations of your personal actions doesn’t mean that those consequences don’t exist.
So, you’re torn between feeling protective of the results of your actions while at the same time, trying to shield yourself from blame.
I really can’t say I blame because up to a certain extent, the things that we do and the signals that we send out are processed by other people. Past a certain point, it’s no longer our problem.
I know this is not exactly a popular idea, but at the end of the day, people also have to take responsibility for how they respond to the Universe. It can’t just be all the fault of “the other guy.”
Overcoming Past Anxiety

One of the classic forms of anxiety of course involves dealing with the consequences of our parents’ actions. Let’s face it. All of us have imperfect parents.
Human beings by definition are imperfect. You really cannot screw with that logic. It’s waterproof and airtight.
But here’s the problem. When we see ourselves as a child and we refuse to grow up from that primordial, psychological, and emotional state, it doesn’t take much effort to view ourselves as some sort of victim.
It’s very comforting to remain in that state because it comes with so many benefits and it seems like it doesn’t cost much. But you’re actually paying a big price if you want to continue to view yourself as some sort of child victim.
Overcoming a Victim Mentality Means Letting Go of Your Inner Child

Why would people want to become a victim? Victims after all are beaten down by life. Victims are at the mercy of forces and people beyond their control.
It seems so unfair and they live in such a hostile world. Why would anybody want to stay in that place?
Well, if the alternative is scary for you, then it would make sense that you remain a victim. What is the alternative that I’m talking about? I’m talking about being an adult.
When you’re an adult, you are held to account for your actions. When you’re an adult, you are going to be asked to be aware of the consequences of your decisions and you’re going to have to own up to them.
In other words, you’re going to have to carry the burden of not only being responsible but saying sorry or fixing whatever harm you have caused.
Who wants that?
When you’re a victim, you want the world to come to you and fix the situation. After all, you’re the one who suffered. Haven’t you suffered enough?
But the problem is nobody expects you to come up with the solution so things don’t change, and you may be thinking that this is a good idea.
Nothing changes because you are expecting all the solutions to come from the people you’re blaming.
Playing the Victim Simply Means Avoiding Solutions

What you’re really doing is you’re avoiding responsibility for getting your life in order.
Sure, your parents broke up because your dad is an alcoholic and your mother is a whore. Sure, you were abused when you’re a kid, both by somebody close in your family as well as bullies in school. Sure, your first boss was a jackass and your first boyfriend was no better.
I get all that.
But at some point, you’re going to have to take ownership of your life. At some point, you’re going to have to get up, brush your mistakes off, and start working towards a better path.
Most people who are stuck in the victim mindset don’t want to do this because the benefits of victimhood outweigh everything else. Sure, you can be an adult and start building a world that makes sense to you, but who wants to do that when nobody can blame you because you’re a victim and nobody expects anything from you because you’re a victim?
That’s why things never change and you become more bitter with each passing year.
Dreaming About Your Child Getting Hurt Can Indicate a Desire for Change

You have this inner child locked in you and with its Peter Pan-like refusal to change. The world is a scary place because you are going to be held to account for your decisions.
Who wants to feel like a failure? Who wants to be blamed? So, you remain a child.
When you dream about your child getting hurt, you’re actually dreaming about your inner child going through the trauma of pain. Believe it or not, this is actually one of the best things that you can wish for that side of your psyche.
Any Real Growth Involves Pain

You probably have heard the saying, “No pain no gain.” That’s absolutely true because for you to grow up, you have to let go.
You have to let go of your old view of yourself. You have to let go of your old securities. You have to strive for something that you aren’t quite sure of.
You have to go to a place that you haven’t been to. This requires a tremendous amount of fear, and overcoming that fear is quite uncomfortable, if not painful.
This is why most people refuse to do it. They’d rather choose to remain eternal children. They either continue to believe that the world owes them something, that the world owes them fairness, equality, and safety.
And it’s no surprise that people that are in this mental and emotional state fail to live up to their fullest potential. They remain stuck there.
But the good news is when you start having dreams of your child getting hurt, you start desiring the pain that comes from growth. Just as your old muscles have to break down when you start going to the gym and doing weights, your old mental muscles start to break down from the weight of change.
In Order to Soar, You Have to Take a Risk

One of the most blind-blowing images that I’ve ever seen involves a mother bird pushing her fully grown chick out of the nest. It was mindblowing to me because I assumed and still assume that mothers don’t want to harm their kids. This has always been my default assumption.
But it turns out that if that Mother Bird allowed her chick to remain dependent on that nest, that baby bird is never going to leave the nest. Put simply, she is causing more harm to that bird by allowing it to remain dependent and mentally weak. So, she pushes the bird out of the nest.
Now, I wish I could tell you that ornithologists report that in 100% of such cases, the baby bird finds its bearings on its way down and gracefully flaps its wings and soars into the sky. That would make for a great Disney ending.
The problem is a lot of the time, the baby bird never gets its bearings. But this is a risk that the Mother Bird has to take because the payoff of the baby bird flying away is so much more valuable than the risk of the baby bird plunging to its death.
Let’s look at the cold-hard reality of the situation. How valuable is that baby bird if it refuses to grow up? The answer should be obvious.
And unfortunately, this is the kind of answer you have been running away from. There’s a part of you that remains stuck in that baby state. You know it.
Your subconscious, through your dreams, is communicating this to you. Now, you are in a certain critical juncture of your life where you have to make a decision.
Do I face the pain? Do I go through the process? Am I willing to put in the work and the time to change so I can adapt and “finally grow up?”
You Never Stop Growing Up

One variation of this is a mother dreaming of her child getting sick. Again, a lot of people wouldn’t think this is a good thing. Most mothers don’t want to see their kids getting sick, much less desire it.
But the truth is if you start dreaming of your child getting sick, this is a positive sign. The old part of you is beginning to wear down.
You’re not dumb. You’re beginning to see that you need to change. In fact, part of you might even be dying for change.
Unfortunately, we’re creatures of habit so we hang on. Oftentimes, it takes much longer than it needs to be so. Just like with anything protracted through life the process of change becomes more painful than it needs to be.
This is gonna be a problem. This inner conflict can only go for so long until it starts to contaminate your relationships with your friends and family as well as your performance at work and your emotional state.
What Does It Mean to Dream About Your Child Getting Lost?

To dream of your child getting lost, your subconscious is expressing a new to lead a “normal life” in the present moment. Your inner child is taking up so much emotional and psychological resources that the mature part of you simply is running out of space.
So, one manifestation of this inner turmoil and emotional and psychic chaos is a desire for the less-developed part of you to simply get lost.
Now, you may be thinking that this is heartless. After all, even thinking of a mother wishing for her child to get lost in a crowd of strangers seems harsh and heartless.
Interestingly enough, we often learn how to navigate our world better when we experience being lost.
It’s hard to teach somebody where something is when everything is neatly laid out in front of that person and there is no room for confusion. But you best believe that person will quickly learn how to use their inner intuition as well as their basic intelligence to find a lost item when they misplaced that item.
Again, you’re not doing yourself any favors by making things too comfortable for yourself. You need to go out on a limb, and this means getting lost in the great beyond.
There’s a lot of scary ideas out there, but there are also great new places and opportunities for you to discover. And unfortunately, you’re not doing yourself any favors by contenting yourself with the same old, same old routine.
What Does It Mean When You’re Watching Children Get Harmed?

When you’re watching your children get harmed in your dream, you can’t help but feel a sense of helplessness.
But the truth is you need to be aware of your lack of progress. Unfortunately, it’s hard to change when you feel that there is no need to change.
So, one key element of this is overcoming a sense of denial. If you’re like most normal people, there’s going to be a long list of things that you are in denial about.
But you have to let go of those.
You have to, instead, look at the things you stand to gain by being more honest with yourself, the decisions you made so far, and the kind of life you’ve been living.
What Does a Dream About a Baby in a Car Accident Mean?

Seeing a baby in a car accident can be distressing, but you have to pay close attention to the metaphor of the car.
A car involves your ability to make decisions and to manage the direction of your life. It is a symbol of your personal autonomy and ability to chart your own future.
If you see a baby in a car accident, your subconscious is telling you that part of you is growing up to the point where you can accept that now, all your decisions are smart ones. You can now start to accept that certain decisions have harmed you and the people who are close to you.
And if you can overcome the emotional firestorm that often takes place when you see this metaphor play out, you are ready to take the next step.
Becoming an Adult Is Never Easy
The next step, of course, is to take responsibility for your life. This means that you stop denying that you’ve screwed up.
Maybe you’re in the wrong relationship. Maybe you’re in the wrong career. Maybe you have been neglecting your body for so long so whatever medical condition you have is your fault.
And believe me, this can bring about the loneliest feeling in the world. A lot of people think that the moment people take responsibility for their lives that there is this great light from Heaven that will shine on them, and everything will clear up like some sort of Hollywood movie catharsis.
It rarely plays out that way. Instead, it’s the precise opposite. You feel so alone. You feel that you’re the only one going through these issues.
But the truth is the moment you start feeling this sense of solitude because of the heaviness of the realization that you’ve screwed up, that’s when freedom appears. The moment you stop denying it and the moment you start believing that there’s nobody else to blame but yourself, the solution appears in your hands.
It’s as if you’re living all this time in a mental prison looking for people to blame only to realize that the key has been in your hands all along. Things start to happen when you realize that and you’re no longer afraid so you turn the key and say, “I am to blame and I take responsibility.”
Now, the solution is with you.
The longer you stick to blaming other people, the longer they remain the solution because they broke your life. By logical reasoning, they’re the ones who have the solution.
Now that you have taken ownership of your life, you say instead:
“Everything screwed up because it’s my fault. It follows that I too must make the decision.”
Oftentimes, it just means choosing to decide differently today as well as tomorrow.
Congratulations! You are now free from your prison.
Dream Example #1

My sons and I lived in a small apartment. It was a 2 BHK unit that existed at a prime location in the city. The Balcony and the windows opened to beautiful garden views.
My late husband bought the house for the family soon before he died.
I worked as a secondary school teacher. And my children, who were 4 and 5 then, grew to be young, handsome men. My elder son had just finished university and got employed.
The younger one was in his last year doing graduation in Civil-Engineering. Life was going well until one day.
It was a usual morning, My sons and I woke up early. We dressed up and gathered in the kitchen for breakfast. The kitchen was clean with shining marble countertops.
My elder son joined me in cooking while the younger one waited at the table. He scrolled his Facebook feed the whole time. When the breakfast was ready, I placed it on the table. We sat and talked about the day.
My younger one told me he had to go the university. The university had arranged a concert and a seminar, which would end late. He told me to expect his return after midnight.
My elder son told me that he would get free early that day and pick me up from school after work. I told him that I would manage to come home by myself. He insisted on picking me.
He dropped me off at school on his way to work. After school was over, my son came to fetch me. The school existed near one of the busy arterials of the city. All types of vehicles moved there. The school was adjacent to a narrow service road which had no car parking space available.
After work, my elder son came to pick me. He parked the car on the main arterial to prevent the vehicle from getting stuck on the service road. He decided to help me cross it by coming to me and assisting his old lady. When he began to cross the main road, two trucks were racing.
To him, just a single truck was visible. When he initiated moving towards me, he looked out for the first truck only. The second was on a blind spot. He got hit by the vehicle and died on the spot. The incident happened in front of me. I screamed and shouted for help, nobody moved.
They all kept doing their work. I tried to call an ambulance, but my phone died. I could not reach anyone. I saw blood all over the place.
Suddenly my younger child appeared; he cried seeing his brother like that. I shouted at him to carry his brother to a hospital. He stood still. He couldn’t bear seeing his brother like that. He started blaming me. He said if I had stopped him from coming to pick me, he would have been alive now.
He cried and passed out. I sat there with this horrific sight of both of my children lying on the road.
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Dream interpretation and symbology have fascinated me ever since I read Freud’s classic, “The Interpretation of Dreams.” Ever since, I have explored Christian, Jewish, Hindu, and Buddhist as well as Jungian psychological ideas about the meaning of dreams. Thanks for joining me in my exploration of the amazing intersection between our conscious waking world and the rich expanse of our subconscious-the home of our intuition, instincts, and hidden potential.