DS (2.5) is all of a sudden talking about monsters. He started talking about them in the basement sometime last week and that talk has progressed to tonight him not wanting to go to bed because of the monsters. When I asked where they were, he pointed to his closet. I turned on the light and said, "See! No monsters!". His reply was, "They're hiding." .......... yeah......
He doesn't watch TV/movies so I really don't know where this talk is coming from. I am home with him so he isn't in a day care where other kids are telling him these things. Seriously, where do kids come up with this stuff?! :-)
But what do I do about it? I tried a night light tonight and tonight he didn't want it on. I will keep trying that, but IMO it created more shadows that were more spooky than helpful. Any tips or things to try to get rid of these new "monsters" that have spontaneously appeared in my son's closet?! :-) TIA!!
Thanks for the ideas! The spray is a good one and I LOVE the idea of the glow in the dark remote!!! My husband wasn't a fan of the ideas because he doesn't think it is right to "agree" that there are monsters. That we should just tell him that monsters aren't real. But truth is, with young kids, he has this idea in his head and they ARE real to him! So, giving him control of the situation is more helpful than simply trying to tell (argue with) him that there is no such thing as monsters. :-) Thanks all!!!
We are afraid of the things we don't understand, so empower him with knowledge. There is an excellent video for kids about monsters from Discovery Kids. My boys loved it. They also had a book about monsters from Scholastics.
We gave our son an old TV remote control with glow in the dark buttons. We explained what each of the buttons did -- one dissolved monsters, one made a sound only the monsters could hear that would scare them away, etc... We also read books about monsters that were cute and funny -- The Monster at the End of this Book, The Monster under the Bed, My Monster, etc. Those things gave him a sense of what he was facing (which was always funny and cute in the books) and gave him a sense of control over the situation.
Oh yeah, we also sprayed the room with "Monster Go Away Spray," which I highly recommend you choose some scent you can live with and not the nasty men's cologne you never really liked. You might be living with it for a while...
Hi.... My response is much like the others. When I babysat, the mom had a bottle of light-scented air freshener with a sticker around it which was printed (in those days by hand) "Monster Spray" "Guaranteed to rid any area of pesky, scary and goofy monsters!". She (or myself when babysitting) would spray quick little bursts here and there when he would get scared of them. She used the air freshener so that he could smell the magic work, and the "spray" motion was more effective than the pump of a water bottle, which he knew right away it was just like like the bottle mom used to squirt her house plants. (smart little guy).
I've read other tips on here about monsters and one of the leading suggestions is "monster spray". Just a regular spray bottle full of water that you tell him is monster spray. Spray it all around the room and poof the monsters are gone! :)
Monsters are real!!! at least to him. Put some fragance in a bottle and add water (or just water if you prefer) and let him spray it around the room. It's called "Monster Spray" or whatever will let him know it will get rid of monsters.
Yup, we used monster spray too. And fairy dust (glittery loose eye shadow). Once I put the fairy dust on my daughter's eyes, she wasn't allowed to open them again...per the rules on the container.
