Okay...how about fears of monsters and ghosts...any suggestions???

[SASM]

DS has been having fears of monsters and/or ghosts for a while. I think that he kind of does this to extend his bedtime, personally, as he seems kind of fake. Over the several months that this has been going on, I've tried several tactics and books.

Here are the tactics that we've tried:

1) Telling the monster/ghost "I AM NOT AFRAID OF YOU,GHOST! SEE YA!!!"

That worked for a little while. Then we tried:

2) Scaring the monster away with whatever pajamas he is wearing that particular night (pet monster pj's, Spiderman, camping pj's with bears and campfire, etc).

This worked for a while. Now we are at:

3) Sending the monsters to my cousin's house in Buffalo, which is quite a ways away. We initially started doing this b/c my cousin was on vacation (coming to our house) and the monsters could camp out there on a monster vacation. I told DS that my cousin would just scare them away over the border to far far away when he returned home to find a house full of monsters. I told him that the monsters would need a passport to get back into the US and they couldn't get one so they'd live in Canada (sorry, Canadian mamas!)and the Arctic forever. :) This has been working for a little while. DS gets a kick out of calling my cousin to say that he sent another monster his way.

So...now I am bracing for when this no longer works. Any other ideas?

[gatorruth]

monster spray worked here. get a spray room deoderizer.. ds liked to spray it all over. he also sleeps with a rechargable flash light!!

Good luck!

[Marisa6826]

We spray for monsters, ghosts, bugs, and whatever else happens to be on Sophie's 'list' of the evening.

It's basically a spray bottle of water, and either Jonathan or I go around the room, chanting, "No monsters, no monsters, no monsters, no spiders, no ghosts, no ants, no bugs, no flies, no beasts, NO MONSTERS!" while misting/spraying water all over her room.

It's worked for the better part of a year and is part of our nightly ritual.

Sophie also has a 'pet' dragon (which shares her pillow with her) to help in protecting her from any ne'r do wells. The dragon we happen to have is from Ikea and he was about $12. ;)

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10078239

Oh, and she sleeps with a small lamp on. Yes, I should have stock in my electric company.

-m

[californiagirl]

We do not allow bad monsters in the house, only nice ones.

As for octopus, which once attacked DD in the middle of the night, the swans on her sheets take care of them.

Evil aliens are handled by an IKEA alien nightlight. Bears by the stuffed bears, and besides they are mostly at Christine's house because she puts fish out for them (don't ask).

Any remaining bad actors may be shot once you have a) determined that they are in fact not nice and b) asked them politely to leave.

[MarisaSF]

I'm curious about when this fear of monsters really starts. DD is 3 and I'm guessing your DS is older. For now, DD is content with, "there are no monsters." Have you watched Monsters, Inc with him yet?

[s7714]

Have you tried giving him a flashlight so he can shine it on the monster or ghosts to scare them away?

I guess if you've already gone there it's kind of hard to turn around and say they don't exist, but monsters (and things like them) don't exist in our house. If our DDs claim to see one we flat out tell them they don't exist and they've never questioned it so far. If they did question it, I'd probably just tell them to pretend it was a nice monster like Sully or Mike on Monsters, Inc. (they like that movie a lot).

There's a Curious George episode on PBS where George keeps imagining monsters both in his room and inside a cave. He later realizes they're just everyday objects that look like monsters because of the lighting (they disappear when he shines a flashlight on them). We've used that story as a sounding board to discuss how monsters are figments of imagination with our 4 year old several times.

Jennifer
Mommy to
Miss Pure Energy 3/03
Miss Limit Tester 6/05

Our bones may be brittle, but our spirit is unbreakable.
Osteogenesis Imperfecta www.oif.org

[californiagirl]

DD doesn't care whether or not monsters exist. Not real? OK. They still scare her. However, not letting bad monsters in the house, that works for her. I don't pretend to understand.

[torontomom]

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[SASM]

Good idea! Maybe I'll try water since I do not quite trust DS with room deodorizer quite yet. ;) I like the little flashlight idea ~ Thanks!

[SASM]

I like your little spray ritual! :) DS actually has that dragon (one of his FAVORITE toys) and I am quite surprised that he hasn't dragged that thing into bed with him yet. Good ideas!! Thank you!

[SASM]

The "no bad monsters in the house" rule is cute! Very cute ideas! Thank you!

[SASM]

Hi Marisa,

I actually have NO IDEA what started this! We only watch Playhouse Disney and Animal Planet...No monsters. He saw a tidbit of "Monsters, Inc" well into the nightly monster thing and it didn't phase him at all. My cousin, who is bussing the monsters into Canada and Monsterland, is planning on getting it for the kids soon. I think that it'll actually help DS (4) since it is, for teh most part, about good monsters. We'll see. Good luck with your DD ~ hopefully this will pass right over her. :)

[SASM]

Ohhh...I am glad that your DDs like Monster's, Ic, as they are the same ages as my DCs. I do not think that we've seen that Curious George. I'll have to keep my eye open for it b/c both of my kids LOVE CG ~ I think that it'll definitely help.

I wish that the discussion that "monsters do not exist" worked but we tried that route for quite some time and he still wouldn't let up ~ wouldn't comfort him. So...that was when we came up with the above tactics. UGH! I guess there is no reasonings with this 4yo.

[SASM]

Sorry... :) It is my cousin's fault...he's the one who is bussing them over there! :) From the sound of things, DS has been quite busy sending them up there, so the monsters are probably overcrowding the Niagara Falls area and will soon be heading your way! :)