6 yr old ds scared of witches and robbers

[cheekymonk]

Following on from my previous thread, have had long chat with ds about what is making him so scared. he has asked for a pic of me and other things which are easily sorted but as to how to alleviate the fear of witches and robbers, or someone taking him away at night I am not sure. Am trying to think of creative ideas. I thought about a special spray that if you spray it witches are put off (like mosquito spray- ds had great pleasure doing this on holiday) but it didn't seem to resonate. I think the fear is more deep rotted. Any helpful suggestions? He is waking at least twice a night and very upset.

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When mine have been scared of particular things at night I"ve used a baby monitor again and assured them I can hear everything so they are safe. If they wake and cry out I"m in there like a shot and sit with them a while. They know I will always come so it seems to make them feel safe and they get over it quite quick.

Can you think of a way to make witches and robbers less scary? That book Burglar Bill (I can't think of a book with a friendly, non-scary witch but there has to be one - librarian will know) for example? Just do what you can to make them comedy/friendly figures.

But failing taht, and re the robber thing - when DS3 got twitchy about us being burgled I went through my whole locking up the house routine with him. We locked the back gate, then the side gate, then I showed him how the door locks worked and how strong they are etc etc - it helped him to rationalise that actually, a burglar would have a hell of a job getting into the house.

They are really helpful suggestions, thank you both xx

Winnie the witch books are fab.

I"m sure most of us can remember what that awful fear feels like still from when we were children.I remember laying there just praying someone would come into my room so I would feel safe.It"s such an abiding memory for me (I was also scared of the dark and a burglar breaking in) which is why I do what I do!
Probably all the experts would say I"m wrong!

With my DD I got her to imagine the scary thing (in her case a monster) with silly colours like pink with yellow spots, or a ridiculous hat, then gave him a silly voice and had her imagine him with a rather unfortunate flatulence problem every time he took a step.

You can also get him to imagine that the fear is a spinning wheel, and to 'spin' it in the opposite direction. Imagining the colour of the fear then changing it to a colour that was 'happy' or 'brave.

Worked a treat!