Ideas on how to cover a loft hatch, scaring my 7 year old!

[Salol28]

Hi all,

I have a 7 yr old boy and in our house the loft hatch is in his bedroom. We've lived here a while but he's started getting scared and thinks there's something up there. We don't ever use it as the space is tiny. So my question is is there a way I can hide it? It does have a loft door (opening/closing) so it's not exposed but wondered if I can get some kind of mural over it or if anyone has any ideas?

We don't have another spare bedroom he can be moved into, we can swap rooms so he has my room but we have huge mirrored wardrobes which I think might scare him too.

It could be just a phase and he might be ok but it's been worrying him for a couple of months now. Any helpful advice welcome.

Could you fit a massive bolt on to it and show him that's it's locked on his side

Could you get some builders tape / gaffer tape and seal around it ?
Tell him it's really strong , and although nothing is up there ( pretend you looked thoroughly ) it will help him understand nothing can come through it.

How big is the space and would you do work?

Has he looked up there?

are you detached? If not, is he worried it links to the neighbours?

I'd go for a bolt or a couple of bolts. If he doesn't think that is enough, I assume there is a frame around the hatch, you could screw a secondary cover onto the frame so he can see it's not easy to open, but would still only take a few minutes for you to get access when needed.

It's an unusable space up there we don't even use it for storage and I think I've been up twice in 2 years! He's never been up as we don't have proper loft ladders but I suppose we can show him so he understands nothing is there.

He just thinks there's monsters up there or 'something scary' and he hears bangs which is usually the pipes or a car door outside. I think he's at an age where his imagination is running wild and he's just convinced something is up there!

Fair enough at that age!!

we got rid of the loft space in our kids rooms to give more ceiling height and because it was so small it was unusable

Wallpaper the wrong way round secured with masking tape to blend in with the ceiling?

Glue a lucky penny to the hatch. He has to polish the penny for at least ten minutes before you put it up. Everyone knows monsters* can't get through a door protected by a lucky penny.

*ok, so he's shit out of luck with ghosts and banshees. But I suggest not mentioning that bit.

Get a bit of wood and nail or screw it into the frame around the hatch you could paint something on it to pretty it up, it will cover the hole and he will think of it as sealed because it can’t be opened then years down the line you can remove it and fill in the little holes left by the screws.

you don’t use it so it’s unlikely you’ll need to remove it until you’re son is old enough to not be scared anymore but in the event you do need to access it it’s just a simple case of unscrewing it.

Print out some pictures of his favourite superhero/cartoon character and stick them up there?
Let him decorate the hatch with paint?
Stick fairy lights round it?

Soft toy hammock strung across the hatch.

Like this

@Salol28 realise this is an old thread but did you have any joy ? I’m having the same issue now with my little one ..