MONSTERS are everywhere in my house according to my 4 year old DD.

She wakes during the night experiencing nightmares. She also has trouble going to sleep at times as she is scared a monster comes into her room and pokes her on the forehead when she is asleep.

I am worried for her as I do not want her to be worried to sleep, life is hard enough for a 4 year old!!

So far we have tried

* spraying the room with "Monster Repellent" - water spray with lavender oil in it

* leaving the night light on

* telling her there is no such thing as monsters

* turning the lights on to show her than shadows are just shadows

* reading stories to her about kids who have nice dreams and a Franklin book about how Franklin sees monsters at night but he realises they are just shadows of ordinary objects

I do not know what else to do!

I do go in at night and give her a kiss when she is asleep or stroke her forehead, so I think she subconsciously feels this and this is where the monsters touching her head comes into the equation. So I have stopped doing that.

What else can you recommend???? I am open to all suggestions

TIA from a tired mummy

I was going to say the water bottle. Not only spraying before she goes to bed but when she wakes up also.

You could Hire Monsters Inc for her which is about monsters scaring kids but is not scary and is a great movie my 3.5yo loves it.

I hope you can work something out.

Thanks lindyloo. We have watched the movie too....

DS is only 2yrs 9mths so it might be a whole different kettle of fish, but a few weeks ago he was scared of monsters at night and waking with lots of bad dreams. We found Buzz Lightyear solved the problem - we gave him a buzz action figure and before going to bed we used Buzz's laser to shoot any monsters. Then Buzz was told to stay with him to look after him at night.

Maybe its worth getting something similar, a buzz/spiderman that can keep her safe. Give her favourite doll superpowers - a cape and a laser (thinking red button on some elastic around her wrist) ???

I will watch this topic with interest! My 2.8yr old DD is convinced there are tigers lurking in every corner of our house, and it's keeping her and us awake until late. I might have to try some tiger repellent and see how we go!

tracyburns, that is not a bad idea. Something physical or her to manoeuvre so she believes she has the power to get rid of it. She has attached herself to some miniature Care Bears atm so I might give that a go tonight.

Keep the suggestions coming !!!

When i was a kid i had a Grover (from Seasame Street) soft toy - mum made up a story about how since he was a 'good' monster that he kept away all the bad monsters...whenever i had a nightmare or was scared going to bed she gave him to me and i was fine!

Not sure how much something similar would work for your dd but with my 4yo, her comfort toy dog is really good at chasing away all her nightmares.

She told us one morning that she had a bad dream where there were some monsters but she said she wasn't really scared because Dudley went after them and got rid of them all. It's something we've spoken about before that sometimes people have bad dreams just like other times it can be good dreams. However, we told her she doesn't need to be afraid as all her toys will keep her safe which is why we put them on the bed with her so she's always protected by them. Also, Dudley, her comfort toy dog doesn't sleep at night as he watches over her but sleeps in the day instead when she's away at childcare or kindy, etc.

Also, with my dd she has told us that when she wakes from her nightmare she sits up and looks around and can see that whatever her nightmare was is no longer there so she happily goes back to sleep again.

So, additional suggestion is to maybe get her something which can be fierce but is protective of her eg. doggie as per my dd or a gentle dinosaur, etc.

I would really love an answer to this, DARN YOU MONSTERS!!! ehheeheh.

I have tried monster spray, night light, his fav teddy, anything and everything!

He started this at 3, and at 4 he is getting slightly better...I mean the slightest. Now he just wants to be a big strong boy and we tell him if he sleeps in his bed every night he is going to be stronger than daddy really soon!

I also remind him that his 18 month sister is in the bedroom right next to him, he was sleeping with her for a while but I have stopped that now as he was waking her at 6am when he got up!

I have tried monsters inc too, was his most fav movie, so I dunno! Hope he grows out of it! SOON!

I have a book called "there's a monster at the end of this book" and it's one of those little golden books. I used this with my sister, I use it with my niece and I've started using it with my DD.

The book talks about how there's a monster at the end of the book, and it's got Grover through it and Grover is very scared so he does everything to get rid of these monsters... he builds brick walls, he ties up ropes, he does everything, but every time a page is turned we're one page closer to the end of the book. When you get to the end of the book, the monster is furry cute lovable Grover.

What I've done is start pointing out all the loveable monsters. Elmo, Grover, Zoe, Abby, etc... and set the idea in their minds that monsters are cute and loveable and cuddly. DD already calls her stuffed Elmo her 'Elmo monster'.

Maybe that's a different way to tackle it? Instead of trying to scare away the monsters, try and change the childs perception of what a monster really is, make it something they can relate with from TV or DVD's or books etc, something they will like.

My DD (4yrs) sometimes has bad dreams - monsters were throwing eggs at her, etc.

Anyway, I went in & sat by her bed & discussed what her bad dream was & then told her it was just a dream, not real, although it may have seemed so. I acknowledged that her fear was real & told her that what I do when I have bad dreams is decide to give myself a good dream instead.

Then I gave her some ideas for good dreams - being as magical and amazing as possible. Like one day you woke up to find a magic pencil case on your beside table & the pencils inside could make drawings that would become real. You go to sleep thinking about your magic pencil case and the amazing drawings you could do - you could draw me a bunch of flowers to give me in the morning, you could draw a pair of fairy wings that will make you really fly, you draw a submarine so you could explore under the ocean, etc.

So basically I haven't stopped the bad dreams (if anyone can tell me how, I'd love to know), but I've given her a tool to help her deal with it. I still have her come to me in the middle of the night & ask for a good dream & I tell you I surprise myself with my midnight creativity.

Good luck!!

Cheers

Ours used to be tigers

Firstly I explain to them that tigers live in Asia (maybe not that helfpul for monsters perhaps ) Then I let them know that I don't let tigers into my house ie. if a tiger came to our front door I would shout very loudly to tell it to go away! And also that Cooper (our dog) would bark and bark and scare it away too.

The seemed a little less worried with that (with lots of reassurance!). I guess it's not exactly telling them that their fears are unfounded (cos I'm sure they are genuinely scared!) and it's also reinforcing to them that I will always protect them.

Good luck, I hope those monsters run away with their tails between their legs

I second the dog
My labrador eats all the monsters that dare to come into our house.
I even get her to come in and have sniff around in case they have snuck in.

Thank you all so much for your advice.

I did not pat her head last night when she was asleep to prevent her from feeling it was a monster!! She woke this morning and commented that she had a happy dream. SO we spoke about it and celebrated the happy dream.

I love the idea that a special teddy stays awake at night to protect her. I might buy her a new teddy today for this special task.

Thanks all again. Let's hope the monsters disappear for all our kids!!

What about a 'dream catcher'? They look like spiders webs with feathers on them, you can get them from local junk shops for around $2-5.00 depending on the size. DS loves his dream catcher and its helped him settle down in his nightmares/bad sleeps.

If DD raises the issue of monsters I remind her that monsters aren't real they are only in stories (so are ghosts) and ask her what particularly has scared her. Often it's something that has a rational explanation like a shadow or noise.

Have never ever been tempted to put a real spin on monsters by telling them to go away or having monster spray or nightlights etc.

She has a book called "There's a monster downstairs" about a little girl who keeps hearing a monster and eventually discovers it's the family cat.

We also have an Angelina DVD called "Princess Dance" and one of the sub-plots is that two of the small mice dress up as a ghost and go about the dungeon of the castle saying "moooooore cheeeeeeese" in spooky ghost voices but by the end everyone finds out it was just two little ones pretending. Every time we play ghost dressups in this house the ghost says "mooooooore cheeeeeeese" ...

Steph

All of the above in terms of spray (i put a little fabreeze in it so she can actually 'smell' the dragon and dinosuar repellant!)

But we also "put dreams into" my DD's head. I read about it and it seems to really work. At night time, as im kissing her good night i trace a cricle around and around on her forehead, and ask her what she wants to dream about.. like pussy cats, birthday cake, chocolate,( ) riding her bike, painting and seeing nanny and poppy etc, and with each "dream' i tap tap her forehead - like i'm "putting them in" She loves it. we put in about 3 -4 dreams each night!

Hope this helps!

Similar to the repellent but with DD1 I got a little satchet of paper shapes from the craft shop. At night we used to put a line across her window sill and along her door frame and that was the areas that her fairies would guard to protect her. It was her idea and worked wonders. In the mornings she would collect up the paper shapes and make a "happy" picture from them.

Literally a few hours ago I read a book about this at the library. It is a children's book all about having monsters, managing monsters and monsters eventually leaving.

Actually no it's not monsters it's dragons now I remember.

I think it was called something like 'I have dragons.'

Do you want me to go back tomorrow and get the right name of the book? It won't take a minute.

Several things that have helped us

- We yell "monsters GO AWAY" really loudly during the day and hold our hands in in stp action (as with bullies), as monsters HAVE to go away when they hear these words.

- dogs check the house and are trained to bark any monsters away if they find them at bedtime

- make protective bubbles around people, bed, house, dogs etc that monsters can't get through

- most of all, reassure with words that mummay and daddy come and check on DS all the time while he is sleeping to make sure he is ok (this really helped)

Thanks again everyone for the ongoing thoughts

Last night we experienced a thunder storm and our dog was barking as she does. DD was worried but I told her that when "Cookie" barks she is keeping us safe. She related it immediately to her monster dreams and she asked if Cookie stays away all night to protect us. Not telling a fib because the dog stays awake most of the night and sleeps all day I replies "Yes". She was more than happy to know that the dog is keeping us safe.

Hopefully the monsters have left us for a while .... until DS starts the phase!!!

Thanks again

Probably a bit late, but it might help other people.

We simply don't let monsters in the house....They make too much mess!

My Dad came up with this and told DD when she brought up monsters with him one day.

It's a great explanation, you aren't denying their existance but they aren't a problem at night time.

DD got to the point where she would let them in during the day (promising she would clean up any mess ) and then they would start making mess and she would throw them outside.

If any did manage to get inside at night time, we would "catch" them and throw them outside telling them not to come back. That ended up becoming a bit of a game and gave her a laugh before going to sleep.

Good luck.

I love this idea.

My SIL still kisses the posts on DDs bed (she is 8) to keep the bad dreams away.

I was going to say what about a mozzie net or similar around the bed as a "protective barrier" and maybe an electrical lavendar burner so the smell and relaxing qualities are there all night (I'm not a particular hippy about this but lavendar really help me in pregnancy #2)

We have the mozzie net - a beautiful pink one with butterflies, but DD won't let us put it over her bed atm s it is hanging over her mirror!!

Let's hope the monsters stay away

Sorry, I know I'm about a week late but I don't come into this section often.

DS1 used to be visited by "scarey things", we vaccuumed the room then threw the bag away.

Lucky that was done the same day as the rubbish truck came.

DS1 watched me vaccuum, he saw me throw the bag in the bin and then he saw the rubbish truck empty the bin and drive away.

He was 2.5/3yr at the time and we've never had any trouble since.

Now we occasionally have the horrible, horrible night terrors to deal with. They are truely heartbreaking to see your child go through.

I hope your monsters have stayed away

I haven't read all replies so this might have been mentioned. I have one of those nets hanging from the ceiling over DD's bed, just the head of the bed, you see it all the time in IKEA displays ...lol.
Anyway, she calls it her monster protector. She gets into bed, has the netting there along side her toddler bed (if this makes sense) and she feels safe in there.
Hopefully you find something that works for your child.
Looks similar to this:
http://saveonbedding.com/library/feather.JPG

Thanks ladies....the monsters are still here

I have tried so many things. Tonight I put some coloured christmas type lights on in her room and told her that the monsters cannot come near her when the lights are on.

It is funny because when we talk about it during the day she tells me monsters are not real and I reinforce this but at night she becomes adamant that they are real.


Still tearing my hair out but we will combat those monsters