5 Year Old Daughter Scared of Monsters

When I had my first little boy and he was about two and a half, he could see a little man in the corners of a room and other places. I did not know what to do about it. I had a friend about twenty years older than I and we were out walking with my little boy and she told him that they would hang him. They "hung" him over a tree branch and that was the last ever heard of the "little man". Don't know if that will help you, but it did help me.

In the Junie B. Jones books by Barbara Park, the five-year-old Junie's grandmother vacuums the monster out from under the bed. I always thought that was funny. Good luck!

We love the Junie B Jones books, there is actually one about the monster under the bed. One of the ways they got rid of the monster was to vacuum it up so it was in the vacuum bag. Then they put the bag in the trash compactor. Junies grandma actually ran the bag over multiple times with the car. Pretty funny. Anyhow, my daughter really liked the idea of the monster getting sucked up by the vacuum. Good luck!

Z.,

I don't know if this will work for you or not, but it worked for my 4-year-old boy. He was absolutely, terrifiedly certain that a monster was lurking in his closet each night when he went to bed. As a result, we were having the same sort of problem that you are having.

We tried the logic and reasoning approach. It didn't work.

We tried other things. They didn't work. He kept stubbornly to his conviction that a monster lurked in the closet.

Finally, in exasperation, I grabbed his red plastic baseball bat and thoroughly whacked the clothes in his closet for a few minutes one evening, while firmly telling the monster to go away. That apparently persuaded him that he could safely go to sleep.

We had to do that for several weeks. After that, the "monster" never came back.

Good luck.

And check out "Monsters, Inc." so you can all have a good laugh.

The scent of vanilla is supposed to a soothing one to children (all people actually), and it worked for us. We purchased a can of vanilla scent air freshner and then I made a new label for the can..."Monster Be Gone Spray". Then before bedtime we went into the room and sprayed under the bed, in the closet, in the toy box...you name it we sprayed it. Before doing so we made this big production about finding this great spray at the door that gets rid of all the monsters...just like the spray that Daddy uses to get rid of the bugs in the yard. They thought that was so cool - validated their feelings that there was something scarey but also told them there was something they could do about it. It worked for us. As long as they could smell vanilla, they knew that no monsters could come in the room. And the smell normally lasted long enough that they would fall asleep. My 7-year old thinks it is sort of silly now because we still do it for our 4-year old and they share a room. But she goes along with it.

Did she see some movie with a monster in it? Ask her to describe her monster. Ask a lot of in depth question about her fear. What color is the monster? Why is he or she in her room? Almost like allowing her to visualize however giving you information you can educate her about. Has she seen the movie Monsters Inc? That was a huge thing for my daughter and I think helped bypass the monster fear as that movie shows monsters to be so sweet!

Educating and empowering has always been my tool on fears. I don't ignore them and try to sympathize, however I when my daughter got this really bad fear about weather, like wind, tornados and all that I just got her some books on the subject. Explaining why tornados happen, what has to happen outside for it to happen, that weather is out of our control and warnings we get on TV and so on, she really felt so much better about it. It was a few months of doing this though.

With monsters it is a little harder. Their imaginations are on over drive at this age. Just talk to her about it. Give her a spray bottle filled with some water, so you spray all around the bed and closet. However this tricked worked for my son, I just don't really agree with it. I mean you are suppose to be showing her there is not such thing as monsters and then you are spraying for them??? Mixed messages but as I said it worked for my son.

Try to be understanding however you do have to be careful for her not to milk this as an excuse to get out of bed either.
Instead of a flashlight which requires her to turn it on and off, why not a night light? Glow in the dark stars on the ceiling and a dream catcher worked for my son too. Around three he went through this scared of monsters, gremlins you name it and we did the glow in the dark stars, my mother in law sent him a dream catcher and I did the monster spray. It solved the problem.

Each of my three daughters went through this. What worked best for us was our "Monster Spray". I used a small spray bottle and added a small amount of perfume just so she could smell it. We would spray a little before bed and if she woke up in the night she could spray it again. This worked really well, and she could be in control without waking us up. The smell was soothing.

Another trick I used when they had nightmares or couldn't sleep was to "put them in a bubble". I would have them lie back and imagine shapes which would eventually turn into a huge safe bubble. I would ask them who and what they would bring along, friends, movies, toys, food etc. They learned to use their imagination in a good way. Also they learned that if they had a nightmare they could "change the channel" like a TV. Hope these work for you!

A.

Tell her that air freshener spray is monster spray...it worked for my 3 year old son.

There is a book called "Tapping the Healer Within". It is a book that anyone can use to take fear away. I used this technic on myself and my son who has extreme fear of going to the dentist. You would have her tap certain places on her face, collar bone, side and head while acknowledging fear. It really works. The book will go into more detail and help eliminate fears forever

Do you have a pet of any sort? We went through this with our son and when he would get scared we'd remind him that Bella (our dog) had the job of keeping all monsters/bad guys away from our house.

Seemed to work.

Kim

When my daughter became scard of monsters we started spraying all the corners of her room with "monster spray" to keep them away, every night before bed she would spritz the closet, under the bed, etc. with a bottle of bath and body works perfume (I had it given to me but I didn't like to wear the scent). I explained that monsters HATE the smell of monster spray and run as far away from it as they can. It worked great!

Now that she is a little older (6) she will talk about what scares her and what will make her feel safe (usually a hug) and I always remind her that she can pray and that God will help her to feel safe and loved.

i used the 'monster spray' technique too...it worked wonders. i really played up its powers and had the children help make the 'spell.'
good luck.

Has your daughter seen Monsters, Inc.? When my older girls went through this we just reminded them that monsters don't scare anymore, they tell jokes! We would ask them to remember what jokes the monster told them, if one showed up, so we could get a laugh, too. It seemed to help.

tell her when she gets scared to pray to Heavenly Father. He will keep her safe and take away all scary feelings.

When our daughter was little and scared of monsters, my husband would "catch" them and flush them down the toilet. Did the trick everytime!

J.

Monster spray! They have actual monster spray at places like Dave's Health and Nutrition. But I use a lavender and chamomile spray, they are both very relaxing scents. It has worked wonders.
The other thing that worked for us is put your daughter in bed and then let her watch you check her room and make it funny then sit on her bed and don't talk about monsters but ask her about something that makes her happy and tell her to dream about it.
Good luck!!!

More light in her room. Rearrange her furniture and put lavander in her pillow. Also use lavander linnen spray. God luck and god bless

Febreeze worked as my monster spray. I also had them draw a picture of the monster and then we either scribbled it all over or cut it up or turned it into a silly face. We also told them that monsters hate loves, so the more loves at bedtime the better. Then, if they thought they saw a monster, they could blow it a kiss to scare it away!

Okay Z., brace yourself this is a little unorthodox. Which most of our parenting skills were now that I look back on it. When I put my grandson to bed one night he was 4 yrs. he said he was scared of monsters. Papa walked in and said where is the monster and the baby said in the closet. Papa walked over opened the door and pointed his hind in inside it and said, "Well I hope he likes the smell of green farts!" And made a big noise! We all laughed so hard. I was shocked but enjoyed his spontaneous wit. After that any mention of monsters followed laughter and papa's green farts protecting us all from the monsters. It really worked so well, could you find a way to make her monsters small and goofy? I heard a lady in the store the other day remind her daughter that the Muppet's on sesame street were monsters and they were not scary. To tell you the truth I never really realized they were even monsters. Good luck, K. K.

my daughter has the same problem...thanks to her friend who's nine and told her all about monsters. so, on occasion we let her sleep on the couch with a large blanket that has a tiger on it and we tell her the tiger wiill protect her. we've also tried giving her a spray bottle (with just water) in it and having her spray where all the monsters might be hiding. kind of back fired when she realized she could spray her younger siblings with it. just be honest, which is our most recent attempt at soothing her fears. just tell her there are no such things as monsters. seems to work well with my 4 yr old. she goes to bed and say mommy i won't be scared, there's no such thing as monsters right mommy. and then she sleeps well. good luck

I have heard of "monster spray" just being water in a spray bottle. My sister's son went through a 'scared' phase. They bought superman stickers for his wall (his favorite) and my sister told him they would protect him. When my daughter wakes up from a bad dream, we say a prayer, I don't know if you are religious, but it helps to calm her down. We also have to have her room clean every night, otherwise things in the shadows of her nightlight, scare her.

Our dog was/is the monster scarer. We have told the kids that it is Bear's job (the dog) to scare and keep all the monsters from the house, that is why we let him out at night before we go to bed. We also explained that he wouldn't let any of them into the house....that took care of the problem

I think you should sleep with her from now on and put your beds together,I mean that happend to my four year old and we did that same thing and after a few weeks we talked to her and now she sleeps alone and she is very calm and if that doesn't work then if she has any older siblings make them sleep with her

There is a childrens book caleed Nighmare in the Closet. It is about nightrmare and all kind of things that scare kids. The good thing about it is that it ends up happy. You might consider this. Also, a friend told me when she was young her sister had lots of nightmares. Her mother gave the sister a pillowcase and asked her to put all of her bad dreams and nightmares in it. Later the family went for a ride in the car. She put the pillowcase out the window(holding it of course) and let all the bad things out of it. When they got home her sister was relieved. (The only bad part about this one is that later her family moved to the same town and her nightmare experience returned.)

Hi Z.,
Maybe instead of a flashlight, let her sleep with a lamp on or her overhead light. Just eliminate the darkness for awhile.
Take care,
B.

I remind my son that the only monsters that are "real" are Sesame Street monsters...Elmo, Z., etc. and they are NOT scary! This can be hard to justify, especially after Halloween. My son is not quite 4, so the line between real and not real is blurry, especially if he's seen a picture or commercial that has scary things. A reminder that mommy and daddy are there to keep her safe and will not let anything scary into the house might help. A lot of it might just have to do with not wanting to go to bed...especially if she knows mommy and daddy are still awake...she thinks she's going to miss something big. Try to be as consistant as possible with bedtime routine. Maybe tell her that you can talk about her fears when she wakes up, so that bedtime doesnt become conversation time...especially if she's trying to stall bedtime.

I use prayers to soothe my nine year old. He's deathly afraid of the dark. If you don't pray, then make up a letter that will chase the monsters out of the room. Make it fun and remember, this is a great age for learning what is real and what isn't. She may just need the extra help to get her to stay in bed. Do you have a lamp? A flashlight can dim very fast and be hard to find in the dark.
My sister was also afraid of monsters. My mom used a teddy bear that was fairly big and told my sister that all the bad dreams, monsters or strangers were frightened away by it. It worked really well for a lot of years. Good luck, I know it's frustrating!!!!

both of my boys have had monsters. You cant talk them away. My husband sat in the room with the boys and had him tell them where the monsters were, then he would pick them and take them for a ride, drop them off out where the monsters live. We actually had to take a door off the hinges once and take it for a ride around the block because my oldest son said that was where the monster was hiding. There are no easy solutions to monsters but having dad get rid of them usually works at our house.

Try the book There's a Monster in My Closet. It's really cute and shows that the monster is as scared as the kid.

I wouldn't play into devices to scare away the monster too much. You want to validate her feelings, but you don't want her imagination to take over and you don't want it to seem more real. Do a monster search before bedtime, give her a friend to keep her safe (we used the teddy bear) and put her to bed. Then be patient - she'll get up and talk about a monster, just remind her that her friend will keep her safe and put her back to bed.

For my younger brothers and sisters my dad used to come in and scare them all away. They also hung no monsters allowed signs. Some of us they told us monsters are our friends. For the last one we recovered a can of air freshener as monsters away spray. My parents found something that worked for different kids. I hope these help.

We bought a low watt blue light bulb and put that in the lamp by our son's bed. The blue light scares away all monsters. Haven't had any more problems.