DS suddenly scared of monsters...

[FrizzyFrazzled]

..I don't know where it has come from, we have never mentioned monsters! He goes to kindy one day a week so maybe that is it but anyway, a few days ago I had a pest controller come to get rid of some mice in the attic. Last night you could hear them really loudly, which he said I would as they had the bait etc (shudder). DS was terrified, up most of the night and was convinced we have monsters up there. It was really hard to get him to go to bed tonight, he usually is very happy to go. What do you do when they have this fear?? He is two. He also isn't the kind of child to come into bed with me (dh works nights and isn't home til 2am) or snooze on the couch, he will only sleep in his bed or he gets distracted and wants to play.
Any ideas??? I am hoping we won't hear anything tonight (it is 730pm here) and it will all be forgotten but need some tips just in case. With a teething DD to contend with too, I need sleep!
Any ideas hugely appreciated....

My sister use to get a water spray bottle and use to spray water around dn's room and told him it makes monsters disappear.

We have a Mummy bubble over our house. Nothing can get through it and it has worke for both my bohys

worked and boys, sorry

DD had this briefly. I told her that monsters are all very scared of Mummies. And that they were especially scared of her threadbare old teddy bear. Even now at least a year later she still says "Monsters are scared of Bear'sName, aren't they?"
I got the idea from this picture :)

Love it! Will try all these things as it was another long night last night. Thanks very much :)

Similar to these ploys, I used to tell ds monsters were scared of Mummies and made a big performance of telling the monsters 'It's night time, you know you aren't allowed in the house at night, now SHOO! Out you go!' In a very brisk headmistressy voice.

Monsters seem to be a developmental phase they all go through - some people say it's the way children cope with their fears. Adults have monsters too - things that keep them awake at night. Only we call it worrying about money, or someone being ill, or 1001 other things. Children don't have that vocabulary or the same experiences so they call them monsters.

get him to watch monsters inc...show him that monster are not scary at all

Dd has just turned two and has developed an obsession with monsters- I blame dh for reading Where the wild things are to her! However her fear is very much associated with being in woods/shadows etc. I have sort of managed to convince her that monsters are in fact hungry bears (and she quite likes hungry bears, having fed them at the zoo) so she will kinds of recite 'ok mummy, not monster just a hungry bear' ( while clinging onto me!). Apparently these kind of fears are usual at this stage as their imaginations develop.

Hi FrizzyFrazzled this may be helpful ....

www.wikihow.com/Stop-Kids-from-Being-Afraid-of-Monsters

Personally, I would go with number 6 ...

"Talk about imagination. Ask your child imagine something, like flying in the clouds. You might even draw a picture of an imaginary flying machine. Then, talk about the difference between imagination and reality.

This is the opposite approach from playing along with the idea that the monsters exist, and it may send a mixed message both to spray for monsters and to talk about them being imaginary. You may need to use some judgment as to which approach to take with your child."

I think it is confusing for kids if you talk about monsters as if they are real. You can still say something like 'cuddle your teddy to make you feel more comfortable in bed' etc or keep a light on to show there are no monsters, just my opinion.

Hope it works out soon.

I watched an episode of 'Super Nanny' where there was a little girl who was having sleep issues and they discovered it was because her room was too stimulating. She had these stuffed toys everywhere and they were Disney 'villains' that she had watched in action on a dvd and then they were 'coming to life' in her imagination at night. It might be worth having a look around your childs room and take out anything that could be causing him to be worried xx

When DS was young he developed a fear of monsters. He would invent monsters which then terrified him so having imagined monsters, DS then imagined a pet dog that slept at end of his bed which could chase away. This way he could not leave his imaginary dog behind if we went on hols.