Scary monsters and my 4 year old ..

[PrincessLeah]

Can anybody give me some guidance please?
Leah is 4 and has recently become much more vivid with her imagination. She often complains of bad dreams about scary monsters, and also in the daytime, she will run to me and say there's a scary monster in her room eating her wallpaper etc etc.
I told her to say a magic word to make the monsters go away. It worked for a week or two but lately she tells me that she said the magic word and the monsters didn't disappear.
Is there another approach to this? She does not appear to be enjoying this fantasy. This morning I went into her bedroom to get her up for school and she was sitting in her bed, upset about the monsters in her room. I feel bad for her and want to help her.
Has anybody successfully found a way to deal with this?

 

[WW1]

A magic spray perhaps? Or a teddy which can send the monsters away?

 

[MrsT&Ben]

I saw something fantastic on Facebook.
A Dr had written a prescription for monster Medicine. The child was to take it before bed and there would be no monsters (or similar). simple idea that i thought sound so clever.
Could you buy some monster medicine from a shop?

 

[Boomerslady]

Bens obsessed with monsters!! In the day he shoots them or chops them up! At night when he started complaining I used a monster spray (tiny bit of body spray the first night) and it worked so I bought a spray bottle and filled it with water.

I just googled and you can buy 'monster spray' haha.

 

[lindseymw]

I was going to suggest Monster Spray as PP have already said.

 

[pinklizzy]

We've used a lavender bedtime spray as a 'monster spray' before and she also has a little plug-in night light to keep them away x

 

[River54]

When my nephews were with us for a few months, one of them kept being scared of monsters. We bought a spray bottle, filled it with water and special monster smell (lavender oil) I sprayed it a few times for bed and convinced him that they hate the smell and can't come in. I told him if he woke up and thought they were near, to spray it, and it would scare them away. Kept the spray bottle near his bed just in case.
No more monsters. Couple times he mentioned it, I told him just to spray it.
Haven't had a problem since.

 

[PrincessLeah]

Thank you all for your replies. I will let you know how it goes

 

[Noodlebear]

Good luck! The monster spray sounds like a cool idea I can't really explain why but the 'monster medicine' doesn't sit right with me at all.

 

[Racheldigger]

We did a magic spell to keep the monsters away. We broke a twig off a rowan tree (powerful against witches and wicked fairies) and tied it to a new six-inch nail (cold iron) with a couple of lengths of red embroidery thread, while saying the magic words 'Rowan tree, red thread, puts the witches to their speed. Cold iron, clean and bright, puts the monsters to their flight' (the first part of this is genuinely recorded in folklore). Then we put it under the bed, and haven't had a monster in the house from that day to this.

 

[Tacey]

A slightly different tack from those suggested already, but we've found just resolutely reminding Alice there's no such thing as monsters calms her the most. She is largely a very literal child, and so the sprays etc. confirm to her that actually monsters must really exist. When I matter of factly say, "Those thoughts are making you think that monsters are real, but really you know there aren't any" she settles down, and can laugh at the idea of it. I guess it depends on your child's personality.

 

[Racheldigger]

In fact, the anti-monster spell has worked so well that, several months down the line, she has forgotten all about it. The first time she went for a sleepover at Grandma's, we had to make sure to pack the spell (wrapped in tissue paper) in her suitcase, and say the magic words again as we placed it under the bed she'd be sleeping in... but the last twice, we've completely forgotten to pack it and she's never mentioned it.

 

[shamrockerjo]

A slightly different tack from those suggested already, but we've found just resolutely reminding Alice there's no such thing as monsters calms her the most. She is largely a very literal child, and so the sprays etc. confirm to her that actually monsters must really exist. When I matter of factly say, "Those thoughts are making you think that monsters are real, but really you know there aren't any" she settles down, and can laugh at the idea of it. I guess it depends on your child's personality.

This is what hubby and I do too and it has always worked. But now I feel a little boring because the monster spray thing is pretty cool and I would have loved it as a kid.

 

[hunniechunks]

We made our own monster, he's called fangypants and he hangs on the wall above George's bed. If any monsters try to come into George's room at night fangypants tells them 'There's already a monster living here so off you pop!'

We tried to tell him that monsters didn't exist but that didn't work with him but luckily having a monster of his own seems to have done the trick

 

[Noodlebear]

That's amazing! Lol

 

[Wriggley]

my oldest went through this stage recently - the first night we used monster spray but I ditched that idea straight away and went with the approach that there are no such thing as monsters... with the monster spray i felt i was confirming that monsters exist and making him believe he had to make sure they stayed away... now he dont ever mention them because he knows they dont exist

 

[PrincessLeah]

Some great ideas here, brilliant.

Since I made this thread, we have moved house to a new area and Leah has started a new school. The monsters problem appears to have fallen by the wayside. Perhaps she has been so distracted by all the changes that it has given her something else to think about. She doesn't really talk about it anymore.

Hunniechunks I think your idea was brilliant

 

[Kate&Lucas]

I saw something fantastic on Facebook.
A Dr had written a prescription for monster Medicine. The child was to take it before bed and there would be no monsters (or similar). simple idea that i thought sound so clever.
Could you buy some monster medicine from a shop?

I do this (works well for bad dreams too), it's just a bottle of multi vitamins

I would say, sort of to reflect what a PP said, I never confirm his monster fears. I give him his vitamins and say they're to help him take away scary thoughts, not to take away the monsters. If I used a spray, I'd say I was spraying bad thoughts away. It's all just props to make the idea stick.
He takes everything I say as law, so if I 'admit' to him there are monsters there that I need to get rid of, I'm confirming his biggest fear and he won't believe they're just in his head. I hope this makes sense.

 

[jojo2605]

I don't really see the point in all the gimmicks; I have just explained to my boys that monsters, dragons and dinosaurs do not exist. I keep reiterating it and they understand this and double check with me at times that it's true! But they aren't scared at all!!

 

[Agoo]

We made our own monster, he's called fangypants and he hangs on the wall above George's bed. If any monsters try to come into George's room at night fangypants tells them 'There's already a monster living here so off you pop!'

We tried to tell him that monsters didn't exist but that didn't work with him but luckily having a monster of his own seems to have done the trick

That's a lovely idea!

OP, perhaps also get a book like Jitterbug Jam (about a monster who's afraid of the boy hiding under his bed) to help put it in perspective.