3yrold scared of 'monsters' - day and night - help!

[GardenAngel4]

My 3 year old DD has just started being petrified at nightime. Going to bed, she is very teary, well full on crying, saying don't leave me, i'm scared. Waking in the night with same thing and wanting to come in our bed (not happening). This is bad enough (we're shattered) but she is also too frightened in the day to leave the room I'm in on her own. EG if she'd left something in the hall or upstairs in her bedroom she won't go and get it and will wait till someone goes upstairs.

I know monsters etc is quite common, but I don't know what to do about it - ride it out, comfort her, ignore it. We're putting all the lights on (at her request) and just trying to be positive about everything.

Advice/experience gratefully received!

No direct experience, but this Anti-Monster Spray or equivalent might help...

A night light and a chat when she's calm that monsters only exist in stories.

Don't ignore it if she is genuinly scared, but equally treat it in a very straightforward way so it doesn't become an attention seeking behaviour.

A night light solved it for our son- he got bad around 3.5 and since the night light has been fine.

i find that going with it works well

ds1 had a phase a while ago of coming into our bed at night saying he was scared. we let him, he got over it

what's wrong with offering her some comfort at night if she is upset??
we never made a big deal about it, he used to come in, say he had a bad dream or that he was scared, we'd grunt something and all fall asleep

DS was like this for a little while. I used to 'shoo' the monsters out in my best bossy mummy voice and go and tell them to play somewhere else as it was DS's bedtime.

go with it and teach her a patented monster removing technique like shouting "Go away monsters" and then they have to go away

do it together

do not rely on anything that can run out though