My Daughter Is Afraid of Monsters and She's Afraid to Sleep in Her Room!

The trick that worked for us was getting a monster repellant. It is relly strange sounding but I got my son a squirt bottle and mixed some water with some lavender oil, because it has a different scent and aids in calming. Before he went to bed he would spray in the closet and under the bed and and anywhee else he was worried about and then the monsters wont come near that repellent because it will make thim sick. He kept the bottle in his room for about a month and never had a problem again.

My son is 3, and has asked me if there were monsters in his room too. I told him that since we have two cats, the cats scare monsters away. He has never said anything about there being monsters in his room again! And since most of our friends have some sort of animal.....there are no monsters at their houses either. Worked pretty well, if you have an animal.

i'm with domoni! i bought some air freshener (method brand from target because it has a really fine mist, but any will do!) and i covered it with construction paper and decorated it to say "monster repellent" "one spray a day and the monsters stay away" and stuff like that. i brought it home to my son and told him i found it at the store and we could use it every night wherever he thinks monsters are hiding. it worked like a charm.

I referred to my children as little "monsters" it really, strangely, seemed to help. I also bought the movie called "monsters inc" That helped as well. If youhave adog or cat, say, no one will get you...fluffy will eat the monsters. I know it sounds bad, but in a child's world, it make sense to them...completely

We went through this as well with my little girl.For sure i would limit the tv shows.Have you tried the nightly thing of tucking her into bed before doing so going and looking under her bed,closet and so on ans showing her there is no monsters?Do you have a night light in her room?

Have you ever watched the kids movie "Monster's Inc."??

I have 3 children 4, 2.5, and 1. Three things we have done over the years is to keep a bright nightlight on in the room to offset the spookiness of the darkness (they even have character nightlights like tinkerbell or dora), and second, we keep a radio in each of their rooms to play classical music during the night. That way the room doesn't feel like soiltary confinement. Also, if they wake up in the middle of the night and are confused a little, maybe not knowing where they are or something, the music sorta reminds them "oh, I'm in my room and I fell asleep with that music playing...I'm ok"
I think even though we are all adults now, the majority of humans think of music when we are scared (or in a dark and spooky situation). Lastly, spend a lot of time playing with her in her room during the day so she will become more comfortable being in there and she'll begin to realize it's ok.
My daughter who is four now went through that stage briefly about a year ago and my husband solved the problem by asking her what SHE wanted to do about it. Her answer was to cover up all the stuffed animals with blankets, and he had to remove some of them from her room and take them to the playroom. So ask her and allow her to solve her own problem...and no matter how outrageous her solution is, go right along with it.
Good Luck, P. P.

OK, this might seem a bit odd to do, but my second child (now 8) went thru much the same thing at about 5 and NOTHING I did or said seemed to help, except... One day, in the afternoon (NOT right before bedtime) I sat down and said this; "Honey, Mommy has to tell you something. You see, monsters ARE real. We parents tell our kids that they aren't so our kids don't get scared of them because they ARE really mean. But the big secret is that they are really (here I held up my thumb and first finger as far apart as they could go) about this big. And they are all purple. And they live in Canada, not America, because our government won't let them live here. Sometimes they sneak across the border and try to scare kids, and even though they are kinda small, they are good at scaring kids. But because they are so small, that is why we never REALLY see them. The thing is, now that you know their secret, they will be scared of YOU because you can just squish 'em. And that's what they are REALLY afraid of, being smooshed, so that is why they scare kids, so that the kids will run away and hide and be scared of them." It pretty much went on in that vein, and I KNOW that sounds weird but you know what? It totally worked. I'm not big on telling falsehoods to my kids but seriously, I was at my wits end with this no sleeping thing. And the thing is, I told this story often enough that my younger two really never became afraid of monsters because they "knew the truth", so to speak. Anyway, I don't know if you want to try this but it worked for me!

My son went through this at about that same age, I told him that he was safe because monsters were afraid of brown haired kids (my son obviously has dark hair) this worked like a charm, he made me reassure him every night that no monsters could get him 'cause he had brown hair but it only lasted a couple more weeks and he hasnt brought it up since. I think it would work with anything that gives your daugter the power over the monsters, it could be something as simple as brushing her teeth, cause monsters cant come near kids with good teeth etc... just something to make your daughter feel less helpless.

I don't know where you are with your faith but you can always go on the whole 'veggie tales' thing that says, 'GOD is bigger than mosters'. Anytime my dd is afraid of going into a dark room or area of the house I tell her she needs to pray to GOD and ask him to bless and protect her and that he will keep her safe.
OR I have a friend who is Eskimo and they bought a 'dream catcher' and put it over her bed. That way all the dreams (good and bad) go through it and filter them out. I really don't know much about dream catchers and the whole story behind them but that is a neat idea too:)
Let me know how it works out!
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I have a 3 year old that may have just solved this problem for you. My daughter decided that she did not want to worry about monsters so when she found this pair of spy gear sunglass things with a lazer attachment she decided that the glasses would help her see them even when they try to hide and then the lazer will scare them away. Maybe finding something like the "special" glasses and a good advertisment from you on how the product will work will help. Don't forget to always do a room check before you leave the room after tucking her in. No monsters+ special weapon= good nights sleep! With my older sons this was never a problem because I DID NOT keep them from watching scary movies. I watched with them and pointed out the fake stuff for a good laugh and assured them that the movies are Not real so the BIG BADS aren't either. B.

Hi J.,

My son also went through this. First off, let me advise you not to "scare the monsters away", because what you are doing is acknowledging that the monsters are real, and in doing so you reinforce your child's fear. Just calmly explain that there are no monsters, and then ask your child what she wants you to do about the problem. My son wanted to sleep with us, and while I don't enjoy being crowded out of my bed by my children, it was worth it to make him feel better.(We only had to endure this for a week, thank goodness!) I don't know how you feel about having your daughter in your bed, but I know when I'm scared sometimes, it feels really good to snuggle up to my husband, and he makes me feel safe. Maybe she would like to snuggle up to you. Anyway, I understand what you're going through, and this is just one of the tough aspects of parenting. Good luck.

K.