Sleeping Arrangments???

Something that worked well for me is Monster Spray, but I guess in your case it would be Bad Animal Spray. I just took a can of natural airfreshener that my son had never seen. I then told him that it said Monster Spray and that it kills all bad monsters on contact. I would spray it every night under the bed, in the closet, etc. This worked amazingly well, and quickly. Good luck!

My son had a period around 3 where he said that snakes were crawling out of the ceiling in his room and he'd come in to sleep with me (which I really kind of liked since he wasn't big on snuggling at that time). I bought an empty spray bottle and made a label with a snake on it with the circle and slash over it that said "No Snake Spray." I put a small amount of water in it and gave it to him right before bed and told him that when the snakes started crawling he just needed to spray them and say "NO SNAKES!" He didn't come back into our room in the middle of the night until about a year later when the ghosts started coming and I did the same thing with "No Ghost Spray." Again, it all stopped. I think it helps them feel more in control, or maybe not, but it worked!

How well is he able to communicate? You may want to track the source of the bad animals. Was it a book, a movie, a show? Do you guys have a horror movie collection that you watch that he may have snuck out one night and caught a glimpse of?

I have heard of people giving spray bottles to their kids to spray away the bad monsters. Maybe decorate it all special and tell him it is spray to get rid of it (apparantly his imagination has taken off). Does he have a nightlight? Maybe light will make it more comfortable to him.

Also do the bad animals go away when you go into him? If not you can introduce the spray and having him tell them to go away. I really hope you find a way through this. It's hard to have a terrified child and hard to loose sleep.

Since there are no bad animals around during the day or before bed when your husband and son go looking for them with the lights on, the bad animals must be afraid of the light. Perhaps you could give your son a flashlight to scare them away at night. It is something he could take charge of and do on his own without waking you up.

A nightlight is a good idea too. I'd hesitate to use air freshener because he would be sleeping and breathing the stuff in his room after spraying it.

Maybe Switching Rooms w/ your Daughter? Maybe a new room would do some good. You don't have to mention the bad animals or maybe explain that they aren't in his room but that maybe he would feel better moving to a new space??? There all kinds of ideas given.. but if he sleeps well in your room and not in the bed with you.. maybe just a simple change or area will do good? Sometimes we try to take a long route to an easy souloution. Good Luck! Cori

Monitor what he is watching on TV. That had a lot to do with my daughters(her name is Jaxxon)nightmares. Even PBS shows were part of her nightmares...Also Do you have nightlights? She will not sleep without a light on. I can handle the light being on and not co-sleeping. Do you drink teas? Chamomile in the evening might not hurt to try with him. If he can have nuts, almonds are a natural calmer too...evening snack.
Good luck.

Hi D.,
My daughter did the same thing when she was 2 1/2 - 3! Her thing was dinosaurs. We tried the following:
- I told her that mommy did not allow dinosaurs in the house. They would be in big trouble and have to sit in the naughty chair if they tried to come in.
- We added a dimmer switch to her room. We would let her leave the light on and then as time went on we would set it darker and darker until it was off.
- We left her door open at night time.
If she would get scared... we would go into her room and tell her it was OK and there were no dinosaurs in there. We did not let her sleep in our room nor would we sleep in her room. That was SO HARD. All I wanted to do was cuddle with her but I knew it would not really help things.
Good luck...
MJ

He must have seen a wild animal show or something to put them in his mind. He should also have a night light so he can see better. Maybe trade rooms with his sister? Can you get him a big stuffed animal to sleep with "to keep the bad animals away?" Talk all day about fuzzy bunnies, it may plant a better seed in his head. If you pray, pray for his peace of mind. Sorry, I just feel bad for him and am just throwing things out.

Haven't had this problem, so don't know how well these suggestions work, just have heard that others have tried them...
1. Get him "scary animal spray" (a regular spray bottle filled with water). Go around the room before bed and let him spray in the corners and in the closet, under the bed...tell him that this keeps the animals away at night.

2. A night light (which you may have already) so that he can see that there are no animals in the room.

3. Get him a special stuffed animal and tell him that this animal will talk to the other animals and keep them away at night.

4. ASK him when he wakes up to SHOW you the bad animals...when he can't, this might convince him that there are none! I am not sure (and I don't know if you know) if he is just having a recurring nightmare or if he really thinks that there are animals in his room.

5. Does he sleep with his door opened or closed? My son does closed - maybe he can do a closed door and when you put him to bed you can tell him that the door being closed will keep the animals out - they can't open doors! Let him check the windows and closet doors as well.

Hmmm, we didn't have this happen for many years with our first children, and then it did happen w/child 5 and for us it was because he had watched a video the older children had on that had some 'monster' in it. So not having movies or tv shows that put things in their minds can help up front. After it did happen though, we appreciated the bible verse in Philippians about "whatsoever things are true". We read that to him and talked about true things and make believe stories. Then we talked about if there really were monsters in his room... Of course not, I mean, where would they be? ... ok, lets clean your room.... do you see anything that is a monster. Now are there really monsters? ... no... they aren't true... so no reason to fear. Sometimes we dream make believe stories... Maybe we dreamed it... It still isn't true and can't hurt you. We prayed with him, left him w/a night light on. Reminded him they were pretend... and slept... yay!
So this might help you. :) It worked for us. I remember we went through part of the routine a couple of different times that week, casually, to reinforce 'real' and 'make believe' so he was reassured through the day... Then when we prayed at night for a good sleep that rested us so we could play the next day and not be tired. He 'got' what we meant. :) Blessings, lindy

Hi D.,

I too have a 3 year old that doesn't sleep well. Often this is due to her not eating very well at dinner so she wakes up hungry. So I try to always giver a snack before bedtime and she sleeps much better.

Night terrors are natural, and will pass with time. For all of your sanity's and good night's sleep sake, it may not be a bad thing to make a little bed in your room for a little while and see if they go away that way. You can transition him back to his own room and play it by ear. It may be all he needs to banish those "bad animals" from his room forever. I know this sounds silly, but when I was a kid, I remember the eyes of my stuffed animals and pictures or posters on my walls freaked me out. I was afraid someone was looking at me through them. So maybe remove things like that from his room for a while. Television can also be the source of night terrors and things they may enjoy watching, may be a little too scary right now. Try reading instead of letting him watch TV for a while. Even simple cartoons may be the source of those "bad animals". Good luck.