My four-year-old is convinced that there are monsters in the bathroom, in her bedroom, in my bedroom, and anywhere in the house where I'm not. This started suddenly about six weeks ago. She's not afraid of other bathrooms. When I asked her to show me the monsters she said they were in the old heating vent that doesn't work. So I covered it up with a Bob Marley calendar. I let her pick the picture. She's still scared. She won't go to the bathroom alone. She sometimes pees on herself after having no potty problems for a long time. Her sister and I are really annoyed. Sometimes we are really busy. It can just be very annoying. I feel sorry for her, but at the same time, it's not always possible for her to run the show. Sometimes there's food cooking, or I'm on the phone, which isn't cordless, etc. Do any parents have any suggestions? Has anyone dealt with something similar?
I'm not a parent, but that's perfectly normal for her age. I've heard of one suggestion I think would work-- Take an unmarked spray bottle and put airfreshener (or just plain water) in it. Make a label that says something like "Moster Spray". Tell your daughter that its a magic spray that will get rid of monsters wherever you spray it. You could then give it to her so she can "defend" herself. Hope that helps. -Kate
I was just about to suggest the Monster Repellent! It worked for my DD who has a very active imagination. She kept it in her room, next to her bed for the Monsters.
I made a monster wand for my sis. You could also make a magic monster necklace and the monsters wouldn't be able to be in the house while she was wearing it although you wouldn't want her to wear it to bed. You could give her some magic to say if she got scared too, a little song you make up together. H
Thank you. Those are great ideas. She has a great imagination and maybe it can work for us in this situation. I think we'll start with Monster Repellant. I feel for her because I was the same way as a kid. I saw things everywhere. I belived I could fly like Mary Poppins if I just caght the right breeze as I jumped off the porch with my umbrella. So, I really can't blame her. I know how real all of this seems to her. Thanks for the tips.
I am the oldest of 6 sisters and 1 brother and I speak from exsperience believe me. My lil brother is only 3 and he's kinda going through the same thing as well, but what I did was I took him in there and I told him to tell me where the "monsters" were hiding and he showed me then I pulled a few things out from underneath the sink in the bathroom and told him that it was ok, so I then put a small flashlight right there up by the sink so when he goes in their he can get it and use it to see if there are any "monsters". It's cute, but damned if they know!
Yeah, I have her show me where the monsters are. That's why we covered up the heating vent that doesn't work anymore. She said that's where the monsters in the bathroom were. Now there's a picture of Bob Marley because it was the only sturdy, long picture I had that would cover the whole thing. I didn't get a spray bottle today, but I plan to tomorrow.
What my parents did, is before I went to bed every night, they sprayed air freshinar under my bed and in my closet. Those "monsters" were burnt by the monster repellent and they never came back.
My dad got Sage those Glow In The Dark Moons and stars and comets of all sizes. She now has put them all over where she gets scared and she is learning the constellations with the book they came in. Try those. Our family gets kind of sick from commercial air "freshners." I guess some lavender oil and water in a spray bottle would be more healthy than store bought air freshner. That stuff from the store actually numbs your nerves in your olefactory center so you don't smell bad things. Not the best thing to be spraying around where little children are sleeping. JMO.
Oh monster repellent is such a great idea! MaggieSuggar, I never knew that the stuff from the store bumbs your nerves in your..olefactory center so you don't smell bad things. Tell me more!
Hers's the update. My kid loved the spray bottle. (hold on, she has to pee.)....... I filled it with water and lavender oil. I told her that monsters can't stand lavender. She and her sister sprayed it everywhere, but she is STILL scared of the bathroom. Eventually I had to take the bottle away because it was getting sprayed in faces and at my computer. They were spraying it on eachother and friends without permission. Butts were getting wet. Angry words were exchanged. Sigh. I am trying. It's getting really frustrating, though. Just now I asked her to show me where the monsters were. She pointed at the Bob Marley calendar. I told her that he isn't scary. She said the monsters are behind him. She won't sleep in her own room on her bunkbed, either. I am getting really tired of it. It didn't bother me before, but she is bigger now and she doesn't just want to sleep in my bed, she wants to take over my pillow and push me off of my bed. I wake up really sore from being bent and twisted. Or else I get up in the night and push her onto her side, or climb over her and sleep on the other side. She says there are monsters in her room. Her sister and I have done everything we can think of to convince her that it's safe. Hers is the bottom bunkbed, and she has a lamp, glow-in-the-dark star stickers, her big sister above her, the closet door closed, the bedroom door open, every stuffed animal in the house...... AAAAAUGH!!!!! Help me! I haven't slept through the night since my first pregnancy in 1996!!!!!! I am weary.
