My 3 year old, who has always been a great sleeper since birth, has now decided there are monsters and scary things in her room when she goes to bed. We do our ritual of watching 15 minutes of cartoons, then rocking her, then off to bed where i scratch her back for what seems like an hour to get her relaxed. I can't even usually make it down the hall before she is crying for me. I'm at a loss as to what to do. I've put a small lamp in her room, I've tried to sleep beside her bed til she falls asleep (she won't go for this..wants to be on the floor with me), we've even put her in bed with us which I am pretty dead set against but I've been sick and HAD to get SOME rest the last few nights. Anyone have any good ideas on how to help them not be scared? I've told her there are no monsters or spiders in her room, I've tried to get her to show me where she "sees" these things in her room, etc.. Nothing has helped. I'm starting to get a little cranky about it at this point and dread bedtime.
I was also going to write about the Monster spray--it is an awesome trick--we also used a magic blanket--I just told my kids that one of their blankets was magic and it kept the monsters away and it made you have sweet dreams--both are good ideas--Good Luck
Most of us go thru this stage (ask you parents if you did when you were little)...Your daughter is going thru a developmental stage of her brain that is creating the "monsters" and nightmares. You are doing the right thing. Does she have a favorite stuffed animal that she absolutely loves to sleep with? If she does, you might try telling her that her "friend" is there to protect her and keep the "monsters" and "bad things" away. I know that worked really well with my 16-year-old, and we use that tactic with our 2 1/2-year-old now. What we are dealing with now with our little guy is the "night terrors" after he has gone to sleep, where he is balling in his sleep, but not waking up. I can rub his back gently and whisper soft soothing "sh sh sh" sounds to him for a little while most of the time, and he calms down, and is able to sleep the rest of the night without a problem. Sometimes, though, I have to FULLY wake him up, and rock with him for a few minutes. (This usually only takes a few minutes, as well, and it does NOT result in him being up ALL NIGHT, most of the time.) There is also a Golden Years Sesame Street book with Grover and his fear of monsters.....it's a great book to read with her, and should help her overcome some of her stress with this issue. (Can't remember the exact title right off hand...)
HTH, and good luck!!
~J.~
____@____.com
I have never had to deal with the monster issue, but I have boys and they think those sorts of things are cool. However, I would suggest soft music. We have always played soft music for our boys and it really seems to help. If your daughter is hearing noises that scare her, this could help to drown out the sounds. Also, the music will help to occupy her mind and should make falling asleep easier for her (we always use nonlyrical cd's). You may also want to stay away from t.v. before bed. I have heard that this can cause excitebility in some children. Our bedtime ritual is bath, book, bed. Our boys slept with us as young children, but they now have no trouble sleeping alone. I hope this helps.
My four year old had this problem after her cousin told her there were monsters in her closet. As simple solution that worked for her but may not work just depends on your daughter, was we told her monsters dont pay rent so they can not stay with us.she thought it was funny but the next time her cousin told her monsters were in her closet she repeated to him" no they are not cuz they dont pay rent or bills." It has worked for her and she no longer is afraid to go to sleep.
I havent had this problem yet but i have heard of other moms getting a spray bottle and decorating it with her fav. thing, writing monster spray on it and filling it with water and adding food color to make it her fav. color, telling her that it is monster spray and to spray them and they will poof disapear for good, or what ever you know will work for her. Hope this helps. Good Luck.
My little girl is going thru the same thing right now. I started the Monster spray 2 nights ago, and it seemed to help. She gets a huge giggle out of spraying th emonster away. It takes her a little longer to go bed, but at least she does not go to bed scared.
Hello,
I think that the cartoons are stimulating her mind before bedtime. A few good books, prayers and hugs and kisses might do the trick. Love the monster spray idea too.
My niece did this and my sister in law gave her some Monster spray. It is basically a can of air freshener and she would spray her room before bedtime.
It worked!
Relax Mom this is normal. My children are 29 years old and 33 years old and we went through this, now their children have at three.
Give your daughter "power" over the monsters. Take an inexpensive spray bottle fill half full of water and about five or six drops of lavender essense oil. This is her personal "monster repelant" the lavender creates a soothing scent that relaxes her for sleep and with her spraying where she "see" monsters will make her feel powerful and give her control.
