Afraid of Monsters

How about buying her a new stuffed animal (maybe a large dog or something) and telling her that it will protect her through the night and keep the monsters away--kind of like the "My Pet Monster" from years ago.

Good luck!

Fill a spray bottle with water, let it be the magic potion to keep monsters away. Spray her room with her every night before bed.

My neighbor's daughter had a similar issue, and they would go around scaring the monsters away. Walking from room to room, roaring with "claws" up and everything.

Good luck.
J.

Hi K.,

I am going through the same thing regarding monsters our son is 3 1/2 - I bought a bottle of the cheapest version of evian spray water - made a lable that said
"Monsters no more" with a picture of a monster with an X through it - put it on the bottle - so now at night we spray the room w/ water and it seemed to work for us and a new nightlight because monsters don't like like.

Good Luck L.

I would try setting up your daughter's favorite stuffed animals and dolls around her bed, and have them holding squirt guns, balls or magic wands. Then let her have a similar item to keep under her pillow. Let her know that they will protect her if monsters come in her room, and just in case, she has a weapon, too. A three year old will never believe you when you tell her they are not real. They are sometimes even unable to distinguish between reality and fiction, so save your breath and your sanity. This method has worked on the two children I have tried it with. Good LUCK!

My little bro was terrified of elephants (yes, really) when he was a kid - my Mom bought him a little rubber mouse (a squeaky cat toy) and put it under his bed ('cause everyone knows - elephants are terrified of mice!). She never had another problem with him being scared. Maybe you could try asking your daughter if there's one thing that all the monsters are afraid of?

I had heard a trick we used with my daughter. We set a "Monster Trap". It was just a plat of sugar that we put in her closet. AFter she fell asleep we put food coloring in the sugar. When she woke up, we had "trapped" the monster - we threw away the sugar and voila! no more monsters.

My 5 year old daughter was afraid of ghosts. We started to watch Scooby Doo which shows that ghosts and monsters are not real. They are just a man in a mask. After a few days of watching it she stopped being afraid and waking up in the night saying there are ghosts in her room. She learned that they are not real and there is nothing to be afraid of. Good luck to you.

Jenn

have you tried the idea of some kind of "monster spray"? Get some air freshener or a water mist bottle and spray that before they go to bed.... My daughter was afraid of monsters after watching the movie Monsters Inc and it worked for us.... and at the same time it makes the room smell good ( if you use airfreshener...)
Just a thought and I hope you can get your problem resolved soon.... Good luck!

We used "Monster Spray"...a pink spray bottle (found at any grocery store, or Dollar Store) and filled it with water, and a teeny, teeny, tiny little squirt of my perfume. After our typical nightly routine, prayers, book, teeth, etc...once she was in bed, she got to squirt the Monster Spray to keep the Mmonsters away...worked like a charm!
Best wishes to you and YOUR little 'monster'!! :-)
J.

I think it was one of the bookstores that sold this whole kit for getting rid of monsters. We had gotten that when our 11 yr old went thru that stage yrs ago and kind of simplified it a little w/our 5 yr old who went thru this stage over the summer. Only we couldn'd find the kit so we just got her a little flashlight & a spray bottle that she sprayed all around her room & under her bed - oh, don't forget the closet. And to our surprise this worked - good luck!

You might find that acknowledging her fear will go farther. Do you have a big dog, or maybe a neighbor does? Bring the dog in one afternoon through your house and have him sniff out and chase the monsters away. Play it up good. Celebrate this act and have a party. Repeat if necessary, until she feels comfortable. Been there. B.

Take a spray bottle and fill it with water. Call it monster repellent and spray it around her room at night before she goes to sleep. Tell her that it will keep the monsters away all night and they are afraid of it. Also, have you let her see Monsters Inc. It's a very funny movie about monsters. It might help.

my son went thru that for a while and i got a Febreeze air spray and told him that it was monster spray. Monsters don't like the nice smelling rooms!!! he loved that and we did 5 sprays everynight.

we also did the sleeping bag on the floor because he's just too big to climb in with us!!! it gave him comfort that he could still come to us or be safe with us if he needed to.

hth
-L.

ive heard about the spray, too. also, there are books by ed emberley that kind of deconstruct and defeat the monsters, and they're not scary anymore ... and these books are fun to read too:
Bye-Bye, Big Bad Bullybug! by Ed Emberley
and especially
Go Away, Big Green Monster! by Ed Emberley

For what it may or may not be worth...A number of years back, some friends of mine went through this with their son. Nothing they did would convince him that there weren't monsters under his bed or that the monsters wouldn't hurt him. After months of this, they happened to host a dinner party including a couple that the child adored. When the bedtime drama started, the husband of the couple cheerfully went into the child's bedroom and "chased away" all the monsters. The boy believed it and that was the end of that. I'm not sure why it was easier for the child to accept the gimmic from a family friend than from his parents, but it was. Maybe if your daughter has a favorite cousin, babysitter, etc., that person will be able to convince her.

Hope that helps.

Hi K.,
We just went through the same thing with our 4 year old daughter. It happened for about 3 weeks, and then stopped. There were some nights that we were so desperate that we let her in our bed, but then we saw that she became dependent. I don't know if you and your family are Christians, but we prayed with her, read her her preschool bible and looked under her bed, her closet and behind her curtains to show her that there are no monsters. This has been over for about a month and a half, and she still prays nightly for sweet dreams. I like that this has given her an opportunity to learn how to pray and to rely on God. Hope you get through this soon!

Dear K.,

Do you have a nightlight in her room? I would get a spray bottle and pretend to spray monster repellent. I know this sounds deceiving but my son was terrified of someone coming into the house and taking me and his dad. So I took an old small alarm clock and told him it was a burglar alarm and put it near his nightstand. I told him if anyone came into the house this alarm would call the police and get the bad guys. He bought it and began sleeping again. He is now 24 and I just told him what his dad and I did to get some sleep (he laughed about it) Sometimes as parents little white lies are okay if it is going to help the cause. You have to be literal with kids and having visual props can help they don't understand lengthy explanations. Good luck!!

We had a similar problem with my grandson. Then one day we hung a Dream Catcher over his doorway (in the hall outside his room). We told him it was a monster catcher that would catch any monsters that tried to get in his room. It worked great! Because his door was closed he couldn't see the dream catcher while he was sleeping but in his mind it was working and no monsters were getting in his room. We only had to leave it up for about a week but were willing to leave it forever if we had to. We never had a problem with monsters again though so finally took it down. I still have it in case it is needed again for other grand kids!

My son was afraid too. He has a lot of stuffed animals and we started choosing one to sleep with that scares the monsters away - a panda bear, a dinosaur, and/or a tiger are his favorites. We also say a prayer asking God to watch over him and help him be brave.

I also let him watch Monsters Inc., which helped a little, but the "bad guy" monster in the movie is scary, so it may backfire.

K.,
i know how you feel...my 3 yr old is the same way. all he talks about are monsters and dinosaaurs coming to get him. this is a stage that should pass soon. this is what im doing with my son.
1. i let him watch the movie Monsters inc. (disney pixar)and im running with that story line...that the monsters are friendly and they are even scarred of us. he loves mike wasazky! that movie really helped
2. another trick...I took a spray bottle and made monster reppelent (water and lemon juice) decorated the bottle with an anti monster pic on it and we spray it around his bed at night.
3. I took him out to pick out a new nightlight
4. i put child locks on his closet door and told him now the monsters cant get in.

hope you get some ideas to help you.
i know your fustrated about your daugter not sleeping. my son will come into bed with me sometimes too and then nobody gets any sleep.

Hi,

Three years olds who are afraid of monsters and other such creatures are right on track developmentally when it's comes to social-emotional development.

Not all families that I have worked with have had to deal with monsters and other such creatures lurking in the night - but some have.

When you're three, if the "word" monster is heard then there is one. So, approach your child and ask her if she'd like to wipe the monster away with a wet cloth, vacuum up the monster or spray water from a water bottle to keep it out of the house.

By looking for them she's trying to really see them. You are showing her that monsters could exist in your home. Still, in her mind they do. So, pick 1 of the ideas from above.
Keep it short and simple - I would tell parents to go in the room with a confident attitude and start "vacuuming" or using
one of the ideas.

This behavior is normal and I worked with many, many families
over the years who have needed my help to get through this.

Kristen Colello
Parent Educator - and the parent who had to vacuum away the monsters 10 years ago...

I did the monster spray too and it worked well. We would do it at night before going to bed. Sometimes he would wake up in the middle of the night saying it wore out, so I go to his room with our "monster box". He would direct me where I can catch them all, then I would let them outside and we would re-spray his room.
Also, before bed we talk about what happy dreams he is going to have, that seems to help too.
It lasted only about 2 weeks, although it happens on occasion now.
Good Luck!

Have you tried reading the book "Go Away Big Green Monster"? It's a great book for kids that age. Basically, it starts with "The big green monster has two yellow eyes" and then you turn the page and it adds a nose and says "and a long bluish-green nose" and each page you turn, it adds more features of the big green monster, but then in the middle it says "but you don't scare me... So.... go away scraggly purple hair" and when you turn the page, the hair is gone... then the ears are gone, then the nose etc.... the last page says "go away big green monster and don't come back until I say so!"

It empowers them to be able to tell the monster to just go away. Other suggestions I have seen include getting a spray bottle of water and spraying "monster repellent" in the room!

I would move the furnature around in that room and fill a plastic garbage with stuff you no longer need or fill it with news papers and tie it closed. I would then tell your 3 year old that you had cleaned out all the monsters for her so that she can sleep in her bed without being frightened anymore....tell her they are all in the plastic bag....have her go with you and plastic bag to where you put out the garage so she's sure you have thrown them out...
If she fusses that night...put her back in her bed and comfort her...remind her that she put them in the garbage earlier...so there are no more monters in her room and that you are sure as you had moved all the furniture to look for them. Put her favorite doll or stuffed animal in her bed with her and leave a night light on for her. Tell her sweet dreams...see you in the morning. If she gets out of bed again...tell her in a firm way to get back into her bed...

I love all of these suggestions! I'm going to have to remember them when (if?) my little guy starts becoming afraid of monsters.

Another idea for you is when your daughter wants to come into bed with you, put a small sleeping bag or a blanket with a pillow on the floor of your room. That way when she wants to escape the monsters, she can sleep in mommy and daddy's room without disturbing you in your bed. That's what my parents did for my brothers and me when we would have nightmares, and it worked well. We would have the comfort of having our parents right there without sharing their bed. And I know I only did it one night at a time. Sleeping on the floor is pretty uncomfortable.

Hope you can clear all of the monsters out of your house - good luck!

i know some people have luck with addressing the monster, but i once was reading the other perspective and it made more sense. it was talking about how the child is looking for the parents cues, so when the parent does in fact address the monster, it proves to the child the monster exists. it was basically saying that monster spray may temporarily work, but instead of "looking" for the monster, the parent should instead be addressing the childs fear as real, but not agree in anyway that monsters are. if you admit it, they will become more fearful since it will be fact.

i know its not exactly helping your situation, but i found it helpful. for my daughter who is 3, we just always say monsters arent real, and explain they are just dressed up like on halloween. at halloween, we would see them at the store, and say hi to them. she thought some zombie girl holding her head was a princess.

with halloween just passing, it may have exaggerated everything. hopefully its just a phase

Hi K.! I have friends who went through this and one thing they did was create a monster spray (I think you can buy that somewhere, too, but why bother) - they basically took a spray bottle (from any pharmacy/makeup store) and filled it with water - you could add a little perfume or something for a scent, but not necessary. Walk around with your daughter and spray the rooms. Hopefully it will work for you!! Good luck!

My pediatrician gave me this idea.
Tell you daughter that her dr. has all the special numbers- Santa, Tooth Fairy and monsters inc. We told my daughter that her dr. called monsters inc. and asked them to not send any of the monsters to our house. I just reminded of her about that tonight and she was visibly relieved.
Good luck.

Hi K., try the "monster spray"...get awater bottle & put water it in it (tell your daughter that you put some kind of solution to get rid of the monsters (like take a cap bottle fill it with water & then let her see you put that into a water bottle :) ) let her help you & go around her room or anywhere in the house & spray.

Hope it works...good luck!

J. B

Many of the suggestions given may help in getting rid of the "monsters". You may also want to find the source of these monsters. Since you have a 15 yr old son, he may be playing teen or mature rated video games with some level of violence. Or it may be TV shows (even some cartoons geared toward tweens & teens) that you & your husband, or older son may be watching. Since you mentioned a "fire monster", it could even be something as simple as a fire safety booklet or video. Find the source & remove it from her, & her from it.
I have 2 girls, now 3 & almost 6. My wife & I do our best to control what they watch, & have never given them a reason to be afraid of the dark. They have never had a problem with monsters. And, other than not being able to see in the dark, they are not afraid of it.

When this happened with my older kids (step children) I had found a small spray bottle from bath and body with little flowers and beads in the room freshener. It was like pear or cucumber melon. I told them that it was monster spray - that's why is smelled so good and had flowers in the bottle. Try buying a small bottle and drop some beads and little flowers in - fill it with a nice room freshener that she may like - her favorite fruit or something. Let her come in her room at bedtime and help you with the monster spray. Tell her it keeps them away all night - like bug spray in the summer or sunblock to keep the sun from burning you.....it worked for me. Good luck to you and I hope it works!