Sleeping Problems - Huxley,IA

My 4 almost 5 year old just got afraid of "shadows" in his room. He does have a nightlight but shares his room with is 12 year old brother (who prefers it dark).

I found a stuffed animal and added a cape to it and now he's a SuperHero Dog who gets rid of all the monsters in his room. It works sometimes, but not always.

We also have given him a flashlight to use when he wakes up, but he tends to leave it on overnight and burn out the batteries. I'm thinking there must be some with an auto-turn off feature, so I'm on the look-out for one of those to hopefully solve the problem.

Luckily, as with everything else, its just a stage and before too long they will forget about the monsters under the bed and be on to something else.

I have a four year old and a two year old, and they have recently been afraid of ghosts. I have no idea why, and I may not even want to know. Anyway, I asked them how to get the ghosts to go away. They said, "Do this, mommy!" while pushing their hands out in front of them. I said, "That's all?" They said, "No, mommy," while looking very disappointed in my parental abilities. "You have to say, 'Ghosts, go away!'"

"Oh, does that work every time?"

"NO, mommy!!" (Again with the disappoinment on their faces.) "Sometimes you have to do this!" (Commence ninja kicking.)

"Oh, okay. Then the ghosts really go away."

"Yes!" (Beaming at me the way I beam at them when they go poopy on the potty.)

When night comes and they're scared, I have them help me make the ghosts go away. Yes, sometimes the ninja kicking takes altogether too much energy, but it helps us all sleep longer.

Ask your son what he's afraid of and if he knows how to make it go away. If he doesn't know how to make it go away, invent something that you would be comfortable doing in the middle of the night. I would recommend staying away from ninja kicks.

When my daughter was about 3, she started being afraid during the night. She started talking about monsters, ghosts, etc. Finally, my husband got involved. He told her he was going to take care of it once and for all. He told her to stay by me while he grabbed a pillow case, closed the door to her room, and preceded to make a terrible racket while he was "catching" her monster. Then, after he had successfully caught the monster in the pillow case, he ran out of her room and into the bathroom, shut the door and flushed the monster down the toilet. We then got her a night light, something like a lava lamp but it had plastic fish inside that swam around, and we never had another issue again. Although it was an involved skit, she was satisfied that Daddy had taken care of the monster, and watching the fish swim around at night gave her something to focus on instead of being scared. I hope you get it sorted out. I know that sleepless nights take a toll on everyone involved. Good luck.

I would remind him that he has a guardian angel. That comforted my child.

It is normal for all kids to go throught this stage. Hang in there. Maybe you can put his matress at the foot of your bed for a while.