Monster Nightmares

This is going to sound strange but, honest it worked. Around Halloween, my Daughter started going through this same thing.
I removed her closet doors so that the Monsters couldn't hide in there and then we went to the store. At the time they were selling "Monsters" that played music and danced. I let her pick one out that she liked (It plays the song "I come from the land Down Under" by Men at Work)and bought it. We then played with it as often as she wanted. Once she named it we then placed it under her bed. This is now the ONLY Monster in her room, and he is her friend.
Now when ever she mentions a Monster in her room, I can say..."Don't worry it only Thunder (that is what she named it) and he won't let anyone else move in with him."
It seems to work, also she started watching the Movie "Monsters" by Pixar (I think) and really likes it, she doesn't seem to think Monsters are scary any more.

Like I said, sound strange but it worked.
Good luck.

This is really common for this age. Just means they have a great imagination. That being said we all want to sleep right? When my youngest was going through this, my ped recommended telling them that there are NO monsters. If you give them the impression that there ARE monsters, you are giving in to the fear. Anything you do to 'make them go away' will have to be done for this whole phase and it can get to be a bit much. That being said, you can still help her fears. You tell her that there are no monsters, and maybe work through what could help her feel safe. A teddy, a flashlight, etc. Maybe a brighter nitelight?! Something that wouldn't really give in to the monsters, but would make her feel safe. Then you have to decide what you are OK with. Is it OK for her to watch tv when she's having this? etc. We sort of did the same routine with my son, we went in.. comforted him and made sure tha the went back to sleep. It was rough the first few days, but it worked and he didn't have them as often. Those sorts of episodes are also WAY more common when they are overtired. My son moved into sort of the Night Terror phase, and those happen WAY more when they are over tired. He sleeps HARD, and they are in that state where they think it's all real to them.

Good luck, email if you need more info or want to talk.

We had the same situation in our home with my oldest daughter. I had heard of the monster spray but didn't want to use it right away. We first talked about monsters not being real, but as time went on lack of sleep took over and I picked up fabric freshener, removed the lable and put my own lable on it and every night spray under her bed and no more monsters. And, another plus was her room always smelt great!!!

Good Luck!

My son also would wake up screaming of monsters. I
took my 2 and a half year old to the store and we bought a bottle of monster spray. We came home and I emptied the contents of the window cleaner and put water in the bottle- my son not knowing of course- and every night before we went to bed we sprayed for monsters. At first it was just his room but then he decided monsters might be in his baby brothers room so we sprayed in there too.
I explained to him that this spray was magical and it would keep away the bad monsters and only let the nice monsters in. So in our house we only have nice monsters, such as the tickle monster who wakes us up in the morning and makes us laugh. He sleeps with the bottle of bad monster spray next to his bed incase any bad monsters accidentally get past the good monsters who protect us. Sound silly but it worked for me within 3 nights.
Good luck.

Ask he what the monster look like, then tell her your going to make a monster trap. (I used a gift box, and let my son color it). Ask her where the monster is..under her bed her closet?? Let's say the monster is green and fluffy, you could put little fluffy green pom pom balls in there while she's sleeping, put the trap back where she said the monster would be. When she wakes up, comfort her, and show her that the trap mushed the green fluffy monster up, and have her throw the box (monster) away. YOu could also try a special lovey, or flashlight too> Good luck.

I don 't know about how to help with the monster problem so much, but your daughter getting up at night and roaming the house is also an issue.
One good, old fashion method to help with this problem is to get a bell - cow bell works best - to hang on the outside of her door.
When she leaves the room it'll make quite a racket and is likely to alert you.

We are currently going through this with our 2 year old. I first told him there is no such thing as monsters, but he didn't believe me. Then, since he loves the movie Monsters, Inc, we tried telling him that monsters only make kids laugh, they don't scare anymore and they are all nice (because that's pretty much what happens in the movie, if you haven't seen it) but he didn't buy into that either. So, recently we were shopping and he saw a display of stuffed dinosaurs and asked if he could have one. I told him that would be great since they were monster eating dinosaurs and would eat any monsters and bad dreams. He's been sleeping with his new stuffed dinosaur for 4 days and hasn't come into our room complaining of monsters. We do, however, have to make sure Roary (his name for his dinosaur) is in the bed every night so I have to remember to keep track of Roary during the day. I will probably be going to the store to buy some backup Roarys in case we lose this one.

L.,
I'm not so sure about the monster issue, but I think that your daughters bedtime schedule is a huge issue. I think that her going to bed is too early and she wakes up 8hrs or so and thinks its time to get up. Children dont understand time schedules. They just dont understand time all together. You may want to re-evalute your nap schedule. Is she napping too early in the day and needs another at 6? Is she not napping at all and needs to go to sleep? Is she napping too late in the day? These all affect her sleeping patterns. If your child awakes and thinks its daytime, she may lay in bed, in the dark and begin to scare herself. I think if she needs to nap at 6, then you should wake her up by 7 and keep her up putting her to bed at 9 or so. Or after evaluting her nap schedule, try to keep her up longer. My husband and I did that with a couple of our kids and at first it was hard, but the kids got used to it.
I think the monster tips are really good. However I really feel that she wouldnt even be waking if her bedtime was switched. This could eliminate the whole monster, waking up time all together. Its worth a try. Good luck to you.
I'm a mother of three and a lead daycare teacher for the 2yrs olds.
sincerely,
A.
also, just make sure that when she wakes up that you try not to talk too much to her or turn a lot of lights on. that will make her think its time to get up.
hope some of this helps

When my daughter claims there are monsters I ask her to show me where and they we spray a water bottle at the spot she points to. I told her it was a magic potion to get rid of them. She really seems to think that works. Maybe that could help. I also noticed that if my daughter nite light is on all night she stays in her room, otherwise she comes into ours. Shes also 2. Hope that helps at least a little.