26 Month Old and Monsters

Hello.. I have the same problem. I have a almost three year old girl. And about the same time frame the monster talk started. So every now and then we have to "kick the monsters out of the house". She had a couple of nightmares before we kicked them out. Now she seems better. But i also cut out anything that may be portrayed in her eyes as scary.

Hello C.,
I initally would say that he has an active imagination, however discribing monsters behind trees, maybe he has been exposed to a t.v. program of some sort that has put these fears in him. You simply need to reinforce that there are no such things as monsters and monitor his t.v. and vidio usage. Children at your son's age tend to be like a little computer, input, input all the information is absorbed and they are not emotionally prepared to process what an older child or adult sees as fiction. I learned this lesson the hard way, my son was 9 sneeking in to watch the x-files with my husband, we were unaware that he was exposed to this, a counselor at school discovered he was having problems with teachers, in fear of them.
Hope this helps.
40 year old Mom of 2
P.

Not sure about 2-year-olds going through it, but my twin boys have this fear at 3-years-old. Actually, I don't know if it's a fear or a bed-time stalling tactic for them! Anyway, what helps them is "monster spray." It works kind of like bug spray in that it repels monsters. We use floral scented linen spray that was purchased at Big Lots for $1.

I think it's very normal for kids to go through. They are beginning to develop imaginations!

My son did the same thing, and when he started talking about monsters I honestly was shocked. I too thought it was far to early, but I told my son...Monsters are not allowed in our house, and had to keep repeating that to him. Make him confident that his mommy will protect him especially in his house, it may take a while but just keep telling him there are no monsters here, they are not allowed to be here. It worked for us, I hope it will help you too.

I did not read all the responses but "monster spray" can really help. We used water scented with an essential oil like cinnamon or orange and let our kids spray wherever they want.

We have also used flashlights. Because my children are preacher's kids - even so young they have a sense of the light and darkness they hear about in church. I think it is pretty Biblical to be afraid of the darkness. Night lights in the room, the hall, and the bathroom have helped also.

Sounds like your child is intelligent for his age - so is my son. With great intelligence comes a great imagination and at an earlier age than they are emotionally mature enough to handle. I always tread lightly when it comes to what my son says he fears - he has so many thoughts that it can be difficult to get to sleep. Take the fears seriously, but do not overindulge the insecurities.

A tip for a little older child frightened by monsters:
My sister told her children that monsters can read invisible
writing and so if they take their fingers and write GO AWAY - NO MONSTERS ALLOWED on their walls that will keep them away. She has twins (4 years old at the time) they invisiblly wrote all over the house and then their monster problems disappeared. It worked pretty well with my 4 year old when she was 3. Since she could not write yet, my six year old did it for her.

My 2 year old has been seeing things he's afriad of for several months now though he doesn't know what to call them. I have read several things about it and like the ideas to NOT tell your children that what they see isn't real. We don't know what they are really seeing in the spirit realm. I believe that children are more aware of and sensitive to things we can't or don't see and "monsters" is a common name for beings from the spirit realm. We have taught our son to tell them to "go away in Jesus name" and of course we take authority over our home and pray a lot. This always seems to work for him! This will probably only work if you are a Christian and your son knows a little about Jesus. Otherwise, you do not have authority over spiritual beings. Occasionally my husband will sleep in his floor until he drifts back off to sleep and that seems to help as well.

I don't know if you are a Christian or not, but if you are, simply explain that God did not make monsters. With my sons, it began with Sesame Street. I was able to explain that they were puppets and I explained other tv monsters (cartoon or actor in costume). I also agree with the mama that said to go and try to find it to help prove that they do not exist.

Gosh... mine is 5 now, and I can't remember when exactly all of these things happened, but that doesn't sound abnormal to me. They pick things up everywhere. He's probably just at a developmental stage where his imagination has taken a leap... I think all you can do is to keep soothing him... keep reassuring that there are no monsters. Does he have a night light? For a while I'd have to make a search of my son's room to show him nothing was hiding. I know it's heartbreaking to see this fear, but I think it's pretty normal.

I have a 2 year old daughter and she has never cried monster. In fact I can't tell you if she's afraid of anything or not, I don't think she is. She pretends that there are monsters around but she plays with them and pretends that she is a monster herself and chases me and my fiance around.

You could try "Monster Spray". Just get a spray bottle filled with water and draw a picture of a not so scary monster with an X on it and have your child spray his room with the "Monster Spray" before bedtime to get rid of any monsters. Worked for my kids.

My daughter started this really early also. We told her that when we bought our house we specifically requested a "monster free" house. She would repeat this every night for a long time - "We bought the monster free house right Mommy?" We were very adamant that monsters were not allowed in the yard or in the house and it worked for us.

There is so much going on in the minds of children at that age. Their days are filled with high energy. So when you come home, begin with setting the environment with calmness. I was a single parent too. At the evening time as Mr. Sunshine was going to sleep we would sit out side and watch the sky and birds and I would point out how they are all getting ready to go night night...We would go inside and I would put on classical music, mostly piano (George Wintson is a great one - he also listend to this when he was inside my tummy for nine months) Prepare dinner and when you sit down for dinner, light some candles and have a candle lit dinner setting. After dinner make a nice bath. I would sit on the floor while he played a while and we would talk about the day's events. (Great memories and have some on tape too) After the bath, give him a good rub down,with a little lotion and massage him from head to toes...Getting the pjs on, tucking him in and reading a book ..Good Night Moon; was my son's favorite...all while the music is playing, the environment is calming and your son will rest much better. Be very strict about the exposure of t.v things...children's minds are so active and they are learning reality and fantasy and at this age it is very difficult to understand the difference...If your son speaks of 'monsters' ask him to describe to you what a monster is...listen to what he is saying and then you will find the words to diffuse any thing that you are not comfortable with being in his mind...Using more pleasant exposures of books and music is a great way to help even adults to relax and not let their minds run wild...

Have you thought about looking for the monsters? find out where he is "seeing them" or is afraid they are, and show him that there is nothing there. I know that when it's this cold you may not want to go outside, but that may be just the thing. If that doesn't work, then maybe a little "holy water" (water in a special looking spray bottle) misted throughout the "monster area" or bedroom might help. He wants you to hold him because is is looking for comfort and he feels that this is the only way he feels safe. If you can convince him that either 1. there are no monsters or 2.(the more probable one at this age) that you can make them go away, then he can find comfort in that. If he continues to see monsters or fears them coming to get him- there may be more to the situation that you may want to look into.good luck.