3 Year Old Daughter with Sudden Fear of Monsters.

Monster spray is a great idea, but something that worked for my husband when he was a little boy was, my in-laws bought him a pet monster. This was a good one, that would protect him from any bad monsters...

When my son had monster issues, my husband (a very large muscular person) had our son show them all the hiding spots...hubby "scared" the monsters out of all their hiding spots, monsters magically disappeared after that. For people that aren't so big and all, I've heard making a "monster spray" works well too...plain water with something in it to smell good, that way the child feels that since they smell the spray, it's working.

I love the book "There's a Nightmare in my Closet" by Mercer Mayer. Maybe it would help...? I have used it in a preschool setting with that age a lot and found it to be an enjoyable way to approach the subject.

I too was going to suggest the Monster-b-gone spray. We also used a magic wand. It made "sparkly" sounds and lit up. I would wave it in the closet, under the bed to scare the monsters from their hiding places and then wave it over her and her bed to protect her. It took all of a minute at bedtime and made things much easier.

During a particularly bad period of time, and nothing was working, my husband came up with a brilliant plan. After my daughter came running out of her room screaming that the monsters were going to get her, my husband asked where she saw them. Then he told her and I to wait in the hallway and not come in the room no matter we heard. Then he went in and shut the door and made such a ruckus as if he was fighting the monsters. When he came out some of her toys and books were knocked off the shelves, one of her drawers was out of her dresser and even the curtain rod was hanging a bit askew. He really made it look and sound as if a huge struggle has taken place. He and my daughter then inspected the whole room together while putting the toys and such away. It worked like a charm. The monsters he scared away must have told all of their friends not to come back to this house. We had very few instances after that.
Good Luck!!

My almost 4 year old daughters love the movie Monsters Inc. It puts monsters in a funny and friendly perspective. I find the more we can laugh and joke about things that can seem scary, the less threatening they become. Kids this age are starting to get a better understanding of what's real and what's only pretend, so make sure you talk about that with her. And include funny and silly monsters when you are playing pretend or telling make believe stories.

g'morning, A.--- it's not surpising that your treasure is having bad dreams:
it's the age-
and you have a new baby--- ( so your BIG girl has to
totally readjust her understanding of who she is - and
how she matters-- she WILL get through this- and so
will you- but it's a task and when we are working
hard we often have anxiety--- and she does.)

What might work??--- She is deeply ''into'' magic thinking ( all 3/4 year olds are) so you might give her an angel night light and tell her that the real angel watches over her all night , to keep her safe; - or you might take an empty hair spray can - cover it with pretty paper-- and give it to her telling her '''this can has MAGIC spray to make scarey things run away- you can spray it as often as you want- and it will scare away anything that worries you''' ( the empty can makes a swishing noise- and has worked for many small children- as it gives THEM the power)

Blessings,
J.
aka- old Mom

You need anti-monster spray (a spray bottle filled with water). Either you or your husband can spray it wherever your daughter tells you - under her bed, in her closet, in the air, it doesn't matter. This usually does the trick.

A.,
I personally have always felt it better to say "There are No such things as monsters!" but I know that doesnt make them feel better. We have a big dog that sleeps on the floor in the hall between my kids' bedrooms. This makes them feel safe, and is my method for dealing with scary night time issues. My husband on the other hand has his own method that has worked for all our boys (maybe because they are boys and they think this is funny) but he tells them that if any monsters come in the house Daddy will get them, put them in the oven and cook them, then eat them for a midnight snack with ketchup! They all got a kick out of this and would be laughing hysterically by the time my husband left the room! He always makes sure to add at the end...If you see one come and get me, I sure am hungry tonight, I could go for a good snack!!

There is also a good book called "There's a monster at the end of this book" it is Grover from sesame street and it is a good way to start a conversation about monsters and such.

K.

My husband discovered a wonderful fix for a fear of monsters a few weeks ago. He put one of our son's stuffed animals (a ferret) in front of his door at night and said the ferret would protect him and keep any monsters from entering his room. It was enough for him! Now he sees the ferret at his door and says, "I'm safe."

We also have a wonderful book called "There's a Nightmare in my Closet" that takes the scariness out of monsters.

A.,

Go to the dollar store, or equivalent, get a cheap spray bottle, fill it with water when she isn't watching and give it to her and tell her it's Monster Spray. If those scary monsters show up just spray them with this spray and they go away.

We did that with my son when he was about your daughter's age and it worked like a charm; until he figured out how to take the top off and soak his room.

The other thing we did was if there was a monster in his room he could call us and Mom or Dad would come in and scare the monster away. We'd jump at the place where he said the monster was yelling and looking like Sully from Monsters Inc. It was a "AAARRRRGHH! Go away monster!" and we'd do this until he said the monsters were gone. This made it a game, and we'd let him scare away his own monsters.

Hope this helps,
Melissa

There are stories where kids defeat the monsters. One of them is 'There are monsters everywhere...' by Mercer Mayer The kid in it is tired of monsters always pushing him around and finds a way to stop them - very cute story and the drawings of the monsters are kinda funny looking. My daughter loves the book. I am sure there are others like it.

When my youngest was that age she developed a sudden fear of monsters too...I am pretty sure that its a developmental thing...my girl now at age 10 has the most wonderful and vivid imagination...maybe that is a clue to a creative mind???

If your daughter has seen the Muppets, she's seen monsters. They're the good ones of course, but somehow little ones decide there are bad monsters out there. My son was afraid of monsters as well. I empowered him to get rid of monsters himself. I made up a jibberish phrase and a silly hand gesture. Showed it to my son and told him to shout it as loud as he could and wiggle his hands to make the monsters go away. It took a couple of weeks, but there are no more monsters in his room. They're only in Daddy's closet (to keep him from from hiding in there).

I try to remind my son about nice monsters, that he likes, like Elmo and Zoe from Sesame Street...sometimes that helps.

Take her to the store and let her pick out a monster buster (spray bottle). You can get them at the dollar store. add a little frangance (lavender works great because it is relaxing) to the water and each night, let her spray her room for monsters...make a game out of it. You cannot simple reason with her that monsters dont exist at this age. Best thing is to put her in "control" of them...it worked wonders for my daughter!