My 4 Year Has a Problem Sleeping

Updated on October 03, 2006
E.G. asks from Donna, TX
16 answers

My little girl won't sleep thru the night.She will wake up around 2:00 in the morning and come to our bed.I will go and take her back to bed but 1 hr later she is back.I asked her why all she says is that there is a witch in her room that wakes her up. I tryed to explain that there is no witches but she cries and tells me to belive her. what to do?

What can I do next?

  • Add yourAnswer own comment
  • Ask your own question Add Question
  • Join the Mamapedia community Mamapedia
  • as inappropriate
  • this with your friends

So What Happened?

So my dauegter drawed the witch and the witch has spider hands she says that she comes from the ceiling so what I did was moved her bed removed toys she doesn't play with changed the night light I moved anything that made a shadow put something over her bed so she won't see the ceiling. I sprinkled her room with holy water i also got her two angels to hang on the wall and a braclet with angels and god she prayers every night not to see the witch .I even put the video camera and I heared a moan taht did not come from her or me or my husband. The only one that lives here is my daughrter ,me,my husband,my step son is here one week on and one week off.We haven't slept good this last few days because it is getting worse so my husband tells me to leave her in bed and he goes to sleep in her bed to see if anything wakes him up but nothing. So we got her a dog and told her that the dog eats witches so tonight we will see . THANKS FOR ALL YOUR GUYS HELP

Featured Answers

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

K.M.

answers from Houston on

Are you in the baytown area? I am looking for someone to work from 7:45 till 3:00 most of the time we are done earlier than that it is a perfect job for mothers who have to get home for the bus and get dinner ready

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

A.I.

answers from McAllen on

I also have a 2 year old that used to wake up at night and go to my bed. I used to have to take her back every single time. Have you tried giving her a warm glass of milk? That usually helps. I reward my daughter if she sleeps the whole night in her bed. She gets a smiley face (made out of fruit)on her pancakes. Or extra whipped cream on them. Or I give her a hug and tell her that I am proud of "my big girl". I like the idea of making a witch repelant spray. You can try that. It sounds like fun.

More Answers

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

K.M.

answers from Beaumont on

Do you have a night light in her room? I keep a night light on for my 3 kids at night that way they can see and realize that there is nothing there. Something else that works (whatever the monster, goblin or witch may be at the time) go into the kitchen and have your child help you make a witch be gone spray that you both can spray in her room. Put some water and poppuri in a spray bottle and see if that works. Tell her that witches do not like water and so they would stay away. My kids were scared to death of Halloween until last year so that was our first year to go trick-or-treating. My children are ages 7, 6, 5 (almost) i would come up with little fun ways to try and get them over their bad nightmares and things that they were scared of. I also used to do a glass of warm milk (plain, chocolate, strawberry or vanilla) right before bed which seems to relax them too. There is also Johnson and Johnsons soothing bathtime wash (its the purple one) which contains lavender and has a soothing affect to get them to sleep through the night as well. It always worked out for me with one of those methods!

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

H.

answers from Lubbock on

Hi

My little boy is onyl 2 so I haven't had any experience with this, but here are just some thoughts: perhaps you could talk through the idea of the witch with your daughter. Ask her to explain what she thinks the witch might want, where she sleeps, what she looks like. Sometimes I think kids are just looking for mommy/daddy to see that they have worries, and that the only way they can tell us these worries is through a "fairy tale." Or, perhaps she jsut heard about witches from somewhere and, instead of being told that they just don't exist, she needs to talk through some things. And don't worry... the fact that she obviously has a good imagination is a good sign! I couldn't help but notice that you said your marriage was going through rough spot? Maybe this is one of your daughter's worries... maybe she wants to check in on you and her dad because she's worried.

Anyway, like I said, I've no experience with this but there are my thoughts!

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

T.I.

answers from San Antonio on

Hi E.,
Being afraid that something is in your room is a terrifying thing. I was that way and my dad did a great thing. He got some palm leaves and formed them into the shape of a cross, then we went to a Catholic Priest (because for a child it is really formal and all,even though we are not Catholic) and had him do a Holy water sprinking on the cross, prayed over it, then gave us the remaining water to sprinkle in my room. I was still scared but I would look up at the cross hanging over my bed and knew that I was protected. It took a few days of me not seeing anything coming into my room, but I eventually wasn't scared anymore. I wish you and your child sweet dreams!!

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

S.

answers from Houston on

E., I Know what your going through my daughter did the same thing but she saw ghost. She described it so vividly that she made me scared. I told my mom, and she came over with a brand new little figurine/statue (small sized) of god, and told my daughter that god will protect her and nothing would dare come in her room anymore because god is there. So, that night my daughter was so proud and happy. She took her little statue in her room, put it by her bed head, she talked to it, and told god to protect her and keep her safe. She slept the whole night through. I was so impressed. She used to carry her statue around everywhere. And everynight got better and better.

I hope this helps you. It really helped me. Thank god for my mom. My daughters story got me so scared that i didnt want her to go back in her room either. I believed her. LOL. But my mom fixed everything.

Best wishes.

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

C.A.

answers from Houston on

My daughter had a similar problem but with alligators. Each night we sprinkled fairy dust(a touch of glitter) and I bought the biggest bath sponge I could find. We decorated it with glue, glitter, stars, ribbons and it was a piece of art. This was our alligator getter. Before bed, I let her use the "getter" and wipe down her bed, underneath, across the closet door and anywhere else she felt a need to get gators. Before long she was doing this routine by herself and putting the getter on the bedside table or sleeping with it if the threats of gators was high. You have to make her believe that YOU believe it will work or it won't. This phase won't last long. One other thing you can do is lay down in her bed at night just like she does with the same lights on. Open your eyes and see if you see any shadows that might be your "witch" Maybe it will be a shadow from a night light or from the street lights on the windows. If you change the type of light and where it shines from and changing the position or color of the light might be all she needs. My niece I put up green christmas lights for her christmas present in her room all the way around the perimiter of her ceiling. Her nightmares went away almost immediately and has had only 4 since christmas last year according to my sister.
Try something, if it doesn't work get out of the box adn try something else.
C

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

S.A.

answers from Baton Rouge on

Have you ever thought that maybe something IS in there that may be making her scared. I am a Christian woman, or at lease i try to be BUT I do still believe that things can haunt you. In children mostly because they are so pure. Once she falls asleep, try sleeping in the room. This way she wont know you are there and see what happens when she wakes up in the middle of the night or perhaps get a video camera or something to place in there. Either somethingis bothering her or she has a very good imagination. Try giving her a little benadryl or something to help her sleep.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

A.L.

answers from Corpus Christi on

I understand where you are coming from. I have a 3yr old boy and a 10 month old girl and my daughter sleeps better than my son. He still wakes up between 2am and 3am and comes to our bed. Sorry to say I have found nothing that works. He also complains of being scared but I either end up laying with him or he ends up laying with me. I tried returning him to his bed everytime he got up but his resistence has been stronger than so far. I also stay at home mom with 4 older step kids.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

S.L.

answers from Houston on

1. Do any of the older kids live in the home to?
2. Have the room checked infront of her, check the room with her.
3. Try watching her room, Set a clock and wake before she does and look in her room.
I'm no expert or nothing close. I am going to tell you some thing that my mate don't even know.when I was little I was messed with not penatrated just messed with. I tryed to tell my mom in a way I thought only she would understand, It didn't work. I ended up getting in trouble my self.
I'm not saying that is the problem, There may be a diffrent problem. Have u ever ceen the movie the sick scence with Bruce Willis? Think about it. S..
P.S.
I hope things work out for u and her.
I read one of your replys I like the spray the spot with her and make the witch go away.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

A.S.

answers from San Antonio on

I like the idea of the witch spray... go into the room and have your daughter show you where the witch hides... don't know if you are a Christian or not, but my suggestion would be to with your daughter ask God to watch over her and keep her safe from all harm, bless the room that no bad spirits may cause any troubles.

"Lighten our darkness, we beseech thee, O Lord; and by thy great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night; for the love of thy only Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen" Book of Common prayer 1928 edition

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

B.B.

answers from McAllen on

When my son screams for me and says he's scared, I turn on his radio and put it on sleep so it goes off in an hour. He likes listening to the music to get him back to sleep. It's funny, he says he's scared, but he doesn't say what he's scared of, he just says that the window is scary and his room is scary. His little sister even shares a room with him and he's still scared even with her in there.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

T.W.

answers from Lubbock on

what cartoons does your child watch. If she is seeing cartoons with fairies and witches and spells that is not good. If you believe in Jesus Christ then go in her room and pray with her and pray that God send Gaurdian Angles to surround her. You will see that she will sleep though the night. God is real and unfortunatly so is the devil and you just pray for safety and peace.

T.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

S.K.

answers from Minneapolis on

E.,

First, help her room to be a friendly place (nightlights, cuddly stuffed animal or baby to sleep with, maybe soft music before bed, etc.) If your family prays, teach her to pray for help not to be scared.

Second, remove any daytime stimulation that may be a problem (scary movies, toys, stories, games.) Reinforce that witches she has seen or heard about are pretend, not real.

Third, she really needs to stay in her bed, for her confidence and your sanity. If repeatedly taking her back to bed (and not giving her attention for coming in your room) doesn't help, you may need to lock her door or yours. Or you could pretend to be a very deep sleeper and ignore her if she won�t crawl into bed with you. That worked with one of our children who insisted that she couldn't keep her covers on. (I tucked her back in for a while, but it went from 1-2 times a night to 8-10 times a night and had to be stopped.) Prep her first for what you decide to do, then stay consistent. This will probably take a couple of weeks to fix, so be patient.

One other note, (please don't be offended if you suggested this because it sounds like a good idea.) A woman on the Dr. Phil show tried "monster spray" for a similar problem and it backfired. It only instilled her son's fear more deeply because mom believed it, too, and the boy was getting up every couple of hours needing more spray because he was so dependent on it for security (or he was just being manipulative to get out of bed.)

Best of luck,
S.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

B.

answers from Baton Rouge on

Hi E.
I have 2 daughters, 11 and 2 1/2. Both of them always want to be in our bed!! Our 11yo is scared to sleep by herself but has no idea why when I ask her! Our 2yo just can't seem to transition out. They both start off in their beds but our 2yo almost always ends up with us! I tried putting her back, but it usually leaves me more tired. So, I am just enjoying them while they still want to be with me! I am sure they won't go to college still in our bed! :) I think you are doing the right thing, just keep reassuring her!
I can help you though with your job search! I am a stay at home mom too and a creative memories consultant! Aside from being a mom, I have never done anything more rewarding! Check out my website at www.mycmsite.com/bmontecinochristian
If you have any questions please let me know! I would love to have you on my team!! Its a great way to make a difference in so many lives, make some money, meet awesome people, AND stay home with your children!!

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

S.V.

answers from El Paso on

I'm going to try to keep this as brief as possible. I agree with one of the replies that states maybe something IS there. I wouldn't necessarily go with the camera and such as the paranormal is very difficult to pick up with standard equipment. Why not ask her, what the witch is doing that has her scared. Talk to her about it. See what she says. If she comes up with a familiar storyline like something out of a tv show or something you've seen with her, you know your source. If she comes up with something off the wall, maybe investigate it further at that point. If there is something there, there might be a presence that hasn't quite moved on yet. You could always call the police station and ask if anything has ever happened in your place of residence, or maybe research through archives in the library. I'd really like to find out what you find out. Feel free to private message me as well.

For Updates and Special Promotions
Follow Us

Related Questions

Related Searches