2-Year-old Afraid of Monsters

When my little man tells me he is scared of shadows, I let him sleep w/ the light on or w/ a flashlight. When he tells me he will have bad dreams or something, I sit w/ him and talk about a good dream to have. We usually talk about water park slides and roller coasters and what fun they are.

Hello L.,

Sorry to hear your son has this fear. My youngest had this problem. What worked for him was my telling him that Monsters don't like our house as there are too many good people inside it. We went on a monster hunt and then his grandparents got him a dragon blanket at Christmas. I told him now the monsters won't ever mess with you because you have dragons protecting you from them. It was just a fleece material with a border sewn on and to this day he has it on his bed every night. Luckily he doesn't need it during the day or anything, just at bedtime.

D. P.

Hi L.. I've heard monster spray and leaving the light on. Those are great ideas. When my son started having bad dreams, I realized that it was from things that he was watching on TV. He loves scooby doo and suddenly he's been having dreams of the bad guys on scooby, so we've tried not to watch too much TV. Another thing that works for him (unless you're not religious) is to have him say his prayers that he will sleep good and be watched over. That always makes my kids feel better.

My 3 year old started this a few months ago too. We just got some lightly scented relaxing spray ( you could go to bath and body works and let them pick out a scent) and put a big X on the bottle with a sharpie. Now it is his magic monster spray and it goes anywhere he thinks they are hiding. We only have to spray once and then if he asks again we remind him that we already sprayed and they are gone. There is sometimes 1 more monster check, but no more than that.

Also, several months ago he wa afraid f 'swiper' from Dora swiping his toys in the middle of the night and wanted to sleep with everything! There was no room for him in his bed the first night. We just came up with a mantra and that worked great. He put out his hand and said Swiper no swiping my (whatever toy he was worried about). That worked for the monsters too.

I would say to try and get out of his room asap, or you'll never get any sleep!

Good luck-

K.

SAHM of 3 and 1.5 boys. Happily married 5 yrs

Have you tried making a spray bottle full of "Monster Spray"? You can get a can of air freshener, sanitizer, or just plain water if you want. Make a cute lable on the computer that says "Monster B'Gone", "Monster Repellant", or "Monste Poison" on it. Lable the can or spray bottle with it. Before he goes to bed, go spray the "repellent" under the bed, into the closet (brief sprays with air fresheners...pick a soothing smell). Then tell him THAT should hold em back!! Make a big deal about "finding it at the store", etc. I had to do this with my three when they were young. A friend of theirs told them that coyotes can come down from the mountains, jump our 7 ft chain link fence and get through their windows. Luckily, his Mom had the idea of the "Coyote Repellent". It worked, and my kids believed it and started sleeping again with no nightmares! Good luck hon...this too shall pass. Hugs!

Have you watched the movie "Monsters, Inc." with him??? It was my son's favorite movie when he was about that age and watched it all the time.
The monsters in it are funny and it's a great story about how monsters are really terrified of little kids.
Just an idea - if you can turn scary monsters into funny monsters, it might help.

Start watching Sesame Street. There are all kinds of friendly monsters on there and it takes away the fear. It is on in the morning on Channel 8 (Phoenix) at 8:00 am. It is also very educational. My daughter loves Elmo and Cookie Monster.

When my son was two he went through a phase of intense nightmares, almost night terrors. He also spoke of monsters, from some cartoons, maybe even the Pixar film. Our solution was to have Daddy do a monster hunt, with a toy gun, in his room every night. Once the room was cleared, he would settle down to sleep, but we let him keep the toy gun (an empty one dollar watergun) under his pillow so that if the monsters came back, he could protect himself.

If you're opposed to guns, even toy ones, you can still try the ritual aspect of a parent chasing all the monsters out before bedtime and see if that helps.

My 2 year old recently awoke screaming that spiders were biting him. I think nightmares are a normal part of growing up and trying to digest the confusing world around them. They turn all of the scary things they see each day (which could even be the garbage truck because it is so noisy) into monsters. I never stay with my son for more than a few minutes when he wakes at night. He is tired, and so am I. I want him to continue to be able to self-soothe. I calm him down, tell him he will be okay, get him settled again, then I go back to bed. I go back again if he cries again, but then do the above and leave. After a while he realizes that I am not staying and settles down. This may take a few bad nights, but your son will learn that all is okay and to be able to go to sleep again on his own. You could also talk to him during the day to let him know that when he cries at night you will come, but not stay. Good luck! P.S. Talk about good monsters and how they surround good people and chase away all of the bad monsters. :)

Like another poster, I thought that age 2 was a bit early to be afraid of monsters. (My daughter is almost 3 and does not mention the word....but then, I have not exposed her to the subject)
But the cat is out of the bag, and you do not get to decide where it runs. This is HIS imagination, and you just have to work with it. Try what imaginary fixes you can.
Childhood fears of all sorts of things come and go. Real logical adult-type thinking comes so much later. Try to keep a sense of humor about it all.
Try not to fall into negative ideas of him "working" you. Remember that other cultures in the world are much more caring and attentive of kids than ours, in which we try so hard to push "independence" so early. (Night time parenting so frowned upon) Good luck!

Did he see a movie or tv show with monsters in it that scared him? How would he know what a monster is...ask him what he thinks it is. My daughter was scared by Monsters Inc. (Ralph, I believe)even when she was 6. Maybe try explaining to him that they aren't real - there are no monsters at the zoo because they don't exist. I know it's a tough age to grasp the idea of what's real and what's not. The book The Very Noisy Night is cute and Bedtime For Francis may help. Maybe he hears things outside that sound scary because he doesn't know what is making the noise. You could sit with him in his room at bedtime and play a game of being quiet and still listening to noises you hear around you ( air conditioner, cars outside, people moving trash bins, etc)and explain what makes the noises. Another idea is to get a dream- catcher and hang it in his window. Good luck !

Hi L., I'm surprised a 2 yo would know what a "monster" was! Maybe I was overprotective when my kids were younger, but I didn't let them watch anything that I thought would be scary. My daughter at age 7 wanted to watch Harry Potter and I wouldn't let her, knowing she was not used to seeing things like that and it would probably scare her. It may be too late but I would pay attention to what he's watching on TV as well as what kind of books you read to him. If he's scared of monsters, I definately wouldn't be reading books about them to him! My friend had this problem and she got a spray bottle at the dollar store and put water in it with some lavender drops and they would spray the monsters away before bed and I guess that worked for her. Who knows, maybe try that and I think the lavender is a natural calmer so that might help too...good luck!

Not sure if you are ok with some TV for him yet, but try making a "date" with him and watch Monsters Inc, popcorn, the works. If he has not seen it yet, anyway. It is a great movie, and he may not understand all of it, but if he is not playing, he may be able to relax a little. If he is playing you, you can just say it is a monster from the movie. Thats my first thought :)