How can I get rid of the 'witches' that have set up camp in dd1's bedroom?

[Oliveoil]

for a few weeks now she has refused to go upstairs on her own and I didn't know why

I rearranged their bedrooms this weekend to sort out our toy mountain but she will only play upstairs if dd2 or me or dh are with her

last night she said she had a bad dream about witches and that they are in her room and she doesn't want to be alone

now I said witches are not allowed etc etc but she is still scared

I am sure MN had a fab thread about getting rid of ghosts but I can't find it, please give me your tips to help my frightned softie to go to sleep

thank you!

Sweetlittlebunny - worrying that we thought very much alike there cant be two nutcases on one thread can there??

Just a thought (althoughcould be talking rubbish as my dd is 2 and I teach secondary so don't know this age v well) - could you involve her in the 'solution' so when you go to the toyshop and buy your paraphernalia you ask her what she thinks the witches are scared of etc. So it's her imagination doing both the problem & the solution if you se what I mean (like ds's "cards for getting rid of halloween").

Wow Shabster, me too. I'm sorry you lost two of your boys
When I lost my first son to mc, he came to me aged about 2 after my Dd was born...he called me! and was standing at the bottom of the cot...I invited him in with me for a cuddle...it's a nice feeling. My 3rd son (mc), hasn't come to me though.
I used to live in a really haunted house and LOVED it. I found it very comforting, especially as I lived with a very abusive man.
I do think that these things are linked to emotions in a big way.

Apparently you should never tell children that their fears are silly. You should acknowledge that they are scared by whatever it is and then help them get over it.

I did hear of a mum who got a spray bottle and filled it with water, labelled it monster spray or some such so they could de-monster the room together before bed.

DH told dd1 that her bagpuss toy would keep away bad dreams and that made her feel better. Now I dread her losing it and I have to explain why bagpuss is broken if she has a bad dream anyway so be careful what you say.

She may feel better if you put her room back to normal, is she old enough to ask.

When dd1 was about 3 we moved and her bed was the wrong way round, so we moved it to a different wall so the wall was on the side it had been before and she was fine.

Oh franny beat me to it

Solo - definitly emotions - you are so right

yes we do the spray bottle - you can fill it with lavender or something nice. Tip given by a friend and works well.

Our cat keeps monsters and witches away!

Allthough according to Dd, sometimes the monsters will eat the witches, but not her as they are very friendly to her!!

Can you find some nice stories about good witches? Or do you think it's just the name she has given to whatever is scaring her?
If she likes fairies, totally agree with "fairying" the room to keep the scary stuff out, and the little rhyme is a good idea - it's another name for a prayer or protective spell, depending on your religion I suppose! My aunt did something similar for my cousin when she was small, at bedtime she would sit up in her bed with her fairy wand and wave it, and together they named 4 fairies that were her bedtime friends. Each night they called the friends to come and sit on the bed to make sure they kept my cousin company and keep the room full of fairy dust and nice dreams. It really worked for her.

I did see a post a while back that make me laugh - someone was asking how to get rid of the monsters in their ds's room. Someone else responded that their family was a bit tight for cash at the time their monsters were around, and their ds's were aware of it. She told her youngest ds that the monsters couldn't stay because they couldn't afford them, and apparently it worked

Meg and Mog are great little books.
Or Winnie the witch, I think that's her name.

Or the worst witch books, tho Miss Hardbroom might give her bad dreams

Just looked and she's 5, bit young maybe for the worst witch, tho they aren't scary, just a bit longer.

oh another good one!

thanks everyone