My four and half year old daughter is having sleep issues but above and beyond that she's so scared of monsters. We all were scared of something when we were kids, I always thought there was a scary monster type of tiger under my bed and was always so scared to put my feet down over the bed or hang my arm off the bed. My daughter doesn't want to go to sleep due to a fear that monsters will get her, she wakes in middle of the night from nightmares about monsters and wants to kind in my bed. I've tried so many different things to get rid of the monsters but nothing seems to work. Anyone have some advice about how to ease her fears? She gets really upset when I won't let her in my bed, I don't want to go back to that, we sleep in the same room because we live in a one bedroom apartment so I'm close, it's not like she's alone in her own room. I need some advice, how do I help her get rid of the monsters?
I bought my son a book all about monsters, and we watched the Discovery Kids video about monsters. The more he learned about monsters the more interesting and less scary they became. We are usually afraid of the unknown, so make the unknown familiar.
Monster Spray. As someone said a trigger spray bottle of water with some scent or an aerosol air freshener also works as long as they can smell something in the room. Sometimes just spraying the room works but sometimes you need to spray a barrier to keep the monsters away. So spray under windows, at doorway, along closet doorway. Reassuring her that as long as this spray is there the monsters can't cross it. Remember to help her check under the bed then spray there too.
This worked great with my son.
I agree with Patty. My daughter would freak out and not want to sleep in her bed because the sharks were going to get her. THen after talking to her about it when she was awake and not scared she didn't like the gap between her bed and the wall because her arm would get stuck in the middle of the night so we shoved a pillow in it and now no more sharks "bitting" her arm. They just name everything they don't understand, monsters but if you talk to them about it you should be able to figure out what she means.
I did the monster spray! It worked. Got rid of all the monsters and put a magic spell on all the windows and closets.
We also say prayers to keep us safe through the night, put a stuff animal on guard, and trying to be good during the day because, as anyone knows, monsters get only naughty children!
Good luck :)
Since monsters are imaginary you can come up with an imaginary way to get rid of them. It could be a saying, or a song, a "monster spray" ( a spray bottle of water with a drop of perfume, vanilla, or citrus juice in it) or anything creative thing you come up with.
Ask her lots of questions to see if you can find out exactly what she is afraid of. When my son was two finally figured out the growling monsters were planes going over the house. An explanation helped him relax. We also gave him pretend weapons and together we shot down every imaginary monster in his room.
Best of luck.
I always tell my kids that Elmo from Sesame Street is a monster and he is very nice, so there's nothing to worry about.
Maybe watching Monsters Inc would give her a different perspective.
I'm not really a fan of the monster spray thing, only because it validates for kids that monsters exist, otherwise, why would we need a spray to get rid of them.
Put her mattress directly on the floor. No room for monsters.
We used Monster-Be-Gone spray. I put water in a spray bottle with a few drops of essential oil and told my daughter that it was my special recipe for monster repellant. She sprayed it across her doorway and around her bed.
My daughter (4.5 as well) has been rattling on about monsters every night. I'm not sure I believe she is actually scared of monsters..I think she just doesn't want to go to bed...but in any case, I told her that monsters aren't real. She then tells me that if monsters aren't real, then fairies aren't real, so monsters must be real (great reasoning skills this one has)....So I told her that there are no monsters in our house, and the doors are locked, they can't get in. Her response? They have magic powers and can go through walls. When I then tell her that mommy put a spell on the house so that nothing can get in, she called me silly and told me that human's don't have magical powers.
I wish I could help you. Monster spray won't cut it with my daughter. I'm hoping she is just scared of monsters because her daddy has been gone on a long trip. When he gets home tonight, I'm hoping he has a solution.
We gave our daughter a paper clip and told her it was a monster blower.
She blew the monsters out of the house and down the hill, or over to our neighbor who doesnt have kids! (this made her giggle, which always takes their minds off things). She still keeps it by her bed and uses it occasionally.
