How do I deal with Monsters?

Sheaunna - posted on 12/14/2012

My daughter is VERY fixated on them. I'm SO glad to hear this is normal. I was getting a bit worried (I baby sat an autistic child in college who was fixated on death). We've tried telling her monsters are pretend and not playing into it and also the monsters inc idea. Neither of those worked for us. I will try the monster spray. Honestly, I think it's caused by a need for attention for her, so we'll try to increase attention given to her at appropriate times too. (We just added a new baby to the family and that's been hard on her). Thank you so much for the ideas and reassurance. I'll stop worrying now =) Thank you

Briana - posted on 03/14/2010

This happened to my son too. I pretended to spray them away with "monster spray" when he woke up at night and that worked. When he brings them up during the day, I just tell him they are pretend and not real. Hope this helps.

Holly - posted on 03/12/2010

I went through the same thing with my daughter when she was 2. My mom always told me to tell her very matter-of-factly that there are no such things as monsters and not to play into her fears. Within 5 or 6 times of doing that, she never "saw" monsters again. It's the same method recommended by child experts. It worked for me.

Amy - posted on 03/12/2010

We asked our daughter what she was scared of. she said snakes. we said oh, well don't worry about those. even if one got in here, your toy moose would trample it and scare it away. no worries from them on. if they can imagine something bad. imagine something bigger and better that can kick it out.

Carrie - posted on 03/12/2010

Our 3 year old was having issues with monsters till we started having him watch Jim Hensen movies. Yes, I know he is young but he really enjoys them and now understands that it's just like a movie he can ask for it to be turned off and make the scary thoughts go away. He now loves Dark Crystal, Fraggle Rock, The Muppets and other movies now that he knows they are just stuffed animals telling a story. He also sleeps with a sock monkey that he uses at night when he has a bad dream or thinks there is a monster under his bed to chase the bad monsters away. It's really cute to hear him telling his monkey to get rid of the bad monsters at night. Just find something that your child has a good bond with to use as a tool for them.

Theresa - posted on 03/12/2010

If you believe in God and have given your son an understanding of God, then have him watch the Veggie Tales movie "God is Bigger than the Boogie Man". My kids loved it when they were young and anytime they were afraid I just reminded them of that movie and that God was there watching over them. Otherwise the monster spray idea seems like a good one too.

Sheri - posted on 03/12/2010

we had the same thing with our son, but we watched Monster Inc, and explained to him that monsters are just as scared of him as he is of them, they are probably curious. After watching that movie he wasn't as scared. Also one night we made a bit production of getting the monster out of his room, we told him to hid under his covers and pretended to wrestle the monster out of his closet, down the stairs and out the front door, pretending to kick the monster in the butt on the way out the door, never come back and slammed the door. He seemed fine after that,

Kesa - posted on 03/11/2010

I agree with the magic monsters spray. Also a magic wand. Before bed let him move the wand around and go "abracadabra! monsters be gone!" and check under the beds and in the closet to show that there are no monsters. I know a lot of people use night lights, but when I was a kid that made it worse. I always thought some weird shadows were monsters.

Dorothy - posted on 03/11/2010

My 2 year old daughter has a similar issue but her's is with the garbage man. She'll say the garbage man is in her window looking at her. At first I thought could there really be someone looking in her window, but we would open her blinds, pull the curtains back and no one would be there. Of course this problem was only at nap time and bed time. I would just tell her there's no man in your window he's with his family. This went on for a couple months but now she'll just say there's no garbage man he's with his family. So mabe just go the easy way by telling your child there's no monsters they're with their family.

Caitlin - posted on 03/10/2010

I've heard a cute idea to mix up a "no more monsters spray".. a squirt water bottle to scare them away, but you can turn it into a magical mixture by saying "spells" over it. You can also have them make a monster wand with craft stuff, to chase them away, get them involved in the process of course, the more fun it is, the faster they should get over it, it'll be a fun bedtime routine.

Tiffany - posted on 03/10/2010

We just went through a few episodes of "monsters" with my son. Our dog has become the remover of monsters in his room - she comes in and checks under his crib and in corners to make sure that they are gone. We leave a night light on in his room as well. Before going to bed, we both roar at the monsters under the bed and in the room and I shoo them out into the hallway and tell them to get out of his room. This seems to work for him. We also stomp through the room to get rid of any monsters. Good luck - be inventive and have some imagination! Also, put away any scary movies, stories or games for a while.

Maggie - posted on 03/10/2010

My son did this. First make sure he's not watching anything on TV that might cause him to have bad dreams. Second, ask him what will make him feel better. My son chose a stuffed dog (to scare the monsters away by barking) and a sign that reads "No mean monsters allowed". He had to specify that it was only mean monsters not allowed because he likes the nice ones.
I've also seen people make monster repellent spray out of air freshener.

Amanda - posted on 03/09/2010

My daughter is now going through a stage where she will point to an area and say scared monster... I hug her and tell her to tell it to go away... So far it works sometimes i have to get her to tell it to go away a few times but then she will look at me and tell me it is gone. She is 2 years old.

Tara - posted on 03/09/2010

When my son went through that we put a night light in his room. We also really played up that Elmo, Cookie Monster...etc. were monsters. He loved those characters so that really seemed to help.