How to Help a 3 Year Old Cope with Fear of the Dark...

I had a period when I did that as a kid. My dad got me a little flashlight to keep under my pillow so I could shine when I thought I saw something. I have no clue where to find them now, but he got the kind that you have to squeeze to light so that I wouldn't play with it all night. (fingers would get too tired. lol) I have seen at Wal-Mart little flashlights that are like dinosaurs, you squeeze the handle and the mouth opens, and the light comes out. You might try one of those, and tell him that the dinosaur light 'eats' the monsters.

It is all developmental based.
At this age, they DO develop 'fears' of the dark and other things.
It reflects their changing cognition and imaginations.
We cannot turn 'off' their imagination.

Even at older ages, various 'fears' of the dark, do arise.
It is normal.

Also at this age, they do get night-mares.
Again, due to their changing cognition etc.
It is childhood.

Just comfort him.
I remember being that way too, as a child.

My kids, sleep in our room too when need be, on the floor futon we have in our room.
Its fine. It works for us though.

Monsters are a developmental thing that most kids go through. They are not a rational fear and we never found we could rationally explain them away. So we went with the 'good monsters' approach. Of course there are monsters living in the closet - they are there to protect us and guard the house. They come out when we are asleep or away. They are good. Oddly, this worked completely. If you let them believe in monsters, they will not go to high school with this belief, they will outgrow it on their own.

my first reaction is whyi n the world did you tell him to shoo away monsters? so now his mom is telling him there are monsters?????

personally I never shooed away monsters why do we agree with children that there are monsters in their room? Be very careful he is not watching anything the slightest bit scary on TV he has no idea that what is on TV is not real, even if it is cartoons. One thing that helped my daughter at bed time was we went in her room together and made it totally dark, no nightlights, no hallway light coming in under the door, then I cuddled her until our eyes adjusted to the total darkness. Then when I put a nightlight on it seemed much brighter in comparison to the total darkness. My son slept well with the door open despite the noise of teenagers all over the house until late. Another thing to think about is maybe its not fear of darkness, isnt your room dark? Doesnt he have several nightlights and the turtle? it's fear of being alone. Tell him he's not alone he has his turtle (is it soft and cuddly?) If you decide to let him sleep on your floor dont feel guilty lots of kids around the world sleep on dirt floors or straw mats. Mine slept on the (soft carpeted) floor for months during the transition from crib to toddler bed. He went to bed fine once I let him sleep on the floor and seemed well rested. He like to be near the door, so I tried moved his bed closer to the door....

My son did this too and what worked for us was sticking to our nighttime routine harder than ever, and leaving his door open with the hall light on. Daddy puts him to bed and tells him that he'll be right outside his door (our bedrooms are next to eachother, so he believes this because he knows we sleep in there). It really sucks tip-toeing around the apartment because his door is open, but he is comforted in knowing that he isn't truly alone. Like someone else said--he's scared of being ALONE in the dark, not necessarily the dark itself.

Also, we told my son that we can only leave his door open if he is quiet and laying down because he can't keep his baby sister awake. it worked great with him and he goes down easily at night...it did take about a month for him to stop freaking out at bedtime though. Good luck, i truly feel for you. This is a really hard milestone for kids AND for parents