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Children Afraid Of "monsters" At Bedtime

Felipe recently started to give us trouble going to sleep because he says he is afraid of monsters. Even though we are trying to reason with him, he still very afraid. Before, he used to sleep with a Scoobydoo stuffed toy, now he not only sleeps with Scooby but with a big bear, a small bear and two stuffed toy cats. There is hardly any space on his bed to sleep. Researching about it, I found that this is a sign of stress on the child, since children are more aware of what death is. Since we watch the news (and he is usually around) about this child that was murdered in Trinidad, even though Felipe does not understand fully everything, he knows the child is "dead", I wonder if that's what's causing him to be afraid? His fears are real and I feel so sorry for him. For once, I decided to not watch the news (I will probably go in another room with him). Any other suggestions?

Bedtime quotmonstersquot Afraid Children

Any other suggestions?

Only to say that "this too shall pass." It may not be death specifically that he is reacting to, but the tension, sorrow, and anger that you all are feeling, and may express to each other, when you watch the news.

You are right that his fears are real, though the monsters are not, and your care and compassion for him will help Felipe through this.

Children Afraid Of "monsters" At Bedtime Reviews Consumer & Travel Family Culture

We had a similar instance with our daughter, where she would wake up at night and sleep on the side of our bed. Eventually, that phase passed for her, but it took a lot of long nights waking up with her and assuring her that there were no evil forces at work under her bed or in her closet. I think it is a stage that most kids go through eventually and some kids handle it better than others. I wish Felipe and you all the best.

Bedtime quotmonstersquot Afraid Children

I would say that it is a stage that most children go through at one stage another during their childhood.
My eldest had a few months of it when he was little.
Although it's really hard on you all watching Felipe suffer, the good news is, it does pass!
I don't necessarily think that it's the knews that's doing it, maybe as mentioned before, he's just picking up on everyone's feelings at the moment, but it doesn't have to be this either. Children just become more aware of the world around them as they grow up.
I found leaving a hallway light on until my son was asleep helped, but as I said earlier, it will probably pass soon.
I wish you all well, and hope Felipe has a lovely birthday!

Bedtime quotmonstersquot Afraid Children

Thanks for the help guys. I just wanted to update the thread and add the "magical" solution of this problem Well, I search on the net for ideas and I chose one I found interesting. It is called "Magic Dust" and the magic dust puts out all the monsters that live in the room *wink* So I took a new jewelry box that I was not using and told Felipe that inside there is magic dust and it will make the monsters run way. So we sprinkled magic dust all over the bedroom (window, under the bed, toys, everywhere). Felipe helped and he was very excited about it. We also sprinkled magic dust on the kitchen, on the computers, fridge, stove, everywhere *rolling eyes*
Since then, he did not mention even once that he was afraid at night and is not giving me trouble to sleep. And yes, we have to spread the magic dust every night. *smile*

Children Afraid Of "monsters" At Bedtime

Name: Jill
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Title: Monster fear help

Comments: Hi, so glad you found something that helped your little boy. We tried the same but unfortunately didn't have the same luck. Our daughter's monster dreams continued, so sadly her fear of monsters and fear of the dark did too. I thought I'd mention for others reading this that we ended up having great success with a printable story from the Little Children Big Dreams website which had been written by a Child Psychiatrist for children afraid of monsters. It was personalized for our child and came with a parent guide which taught us how to approach our daughter's fears and encourage her to illustrate her own story (based on therapeutic principles apparently). It worked so well. It was a great relief after so many frustrating nights.