Scary monsters, bedtime and nightmares - help please

[xmummy]

My 29 month old DS started having problems going to bed, wanting us with him - we thought we had sorted it with sticker chats, rewards etc.

Now he says there are monsters in his room, under his bed and behind the curtains and is scared to go to sleep and often wakes in the night upset to varying degrees.

I was told this is a phase and to go along with him and tell the monsters to get out of the room (which we do and in fact put them out of the front door (we live in a bungalow), we then get a favourite teddy to protect him at night....

All sounds good but is not consistently working and tonight after getting into our bed last night (bad parents i know!) got up a few minutes after being put to bed. I made sure all the monsters were gone then said back to bed and he said no - i tried to be gentle at first, then i thought maybe he is using this as a tactic to get into our bed, so I did controlled crying with him, which worked rather quickly.

I am not sure whether I he was a bit scared and is trying it on now, or whether he is genuinely scared and I have just been a horrible mother to my son tonight.

Has anyone had similar experiences at all?

Thanks for reading

we did although DS was older I think, maybe 3. We got a Dream Catcher adn that wokred for him but sometimes, even now and he is 7, he will ask me to check behind the curtains and inside the wardrobes. I don't think he is using it as a delaying tactic and i ususally put it down to him having read/overheard or seen something a bit unusual during his day.
It sounds like you are doing the right things though so good for you and I hope your DS settles down and grows out of it quickly.

DP and I got DSD to give the monsters sweets to show them DSD was a friend and let her sprinkle fairy dust (silver stars and red hearts from Tesco!) so they went on their way.
We also put fairy lights up to welcome fairies who would shoo silly lost monsters away and keep DSD safe.
DSD was waking up a lot screaming and crying. Since she made friends with the monsters, sprinkled fairy dust and put up fairy lights she has touch wood been fine.

It is around this time that they seem to develop fears quite strongly so I would suspect it is genuine, although toddlers have been known to try it on with their parents .

DS1 is 33 months and has similar fears. We also did the teddy thing which we dressed in a green t-shirt and said monsters were scared of green so they wouldn't come near. He's also been quite taken with a wooden buddha we own so we've put that in his room and said that will look after aswell when he's asleep. Anything similar you might be able to use?

Good luck

We have a dimmer switch in dd's room and she has a low light on all night. She suddenly started being afraid of the dark at 3 and now thinks there is a monster in the clock. Now she sometimes wakes up, plays with her toys for a bit, then goes back to bed.

It was a bit more than a phase for me. I needed a light at least in the hall until I was 17 (and so did my brother, although we were raised seperately and didn't meet until we were grown up)!