I finally called (long distance) my brother to see if she would settle down just by hearing his voice and that he was ok, but he didn't answer the phone and has been quite hostile since about the audacity of us calling at 3 a.m......and didn't we know he was sleeping, and then proceeded to trash me. So.....no help there. Sigh.
Chris
All I can think of is hugs, maybe a back rub, a soothing cup of tea or cocoa, and lots of reassurance. Maybe talking about her good memories of your brother as a child and later would help.
When I wake up from a bad dream I like to leave the lights on, and perhaps read a while. (I've been known to read with my eyes closed.)
The parents one is the hardest to deal with because when I affirm saying she just talked to them yesterday, sometimes she will then state, so they are still alive? What is a stressed daughter caregiver to do?
The only other thing I'd do is ask her about the dream (I realise that at 3 am you may not really be in the mood, but…) and see if talking about it helped her separate out what couldn't be real. Then say "you wouldn't want to wake him at this time, let's call first thing tomorrow and check everything's ok." It would work on my mother because she's not (yet) so far gone you can't bring her back to reality - it depends on how rational your mother is still able to be, I suppose?