Toddler Beds and Baby Gates and monsters...OH MY!

As far as your son is concerned, I say let him sleep on the floor for a few weeks. Our daughter has been in the toddler bed for almost a year now and occasionally she still gets out and sleeps on the floor. It doesn't hurt them to sleep down there and when they realize how hard it is, they start climbing back into the comfy bed.
What we have started doing for our girl as far as the scary room thing goes...put the main light on a dimmer. My girl even asks for the "lights on" when we're doing our betime routine. I reassure her that the lights will stay on, but dim them to a level so she can sleep. It's really helped

first off, i love the idea of the "monster repellant"!

i also agree that sleeping on the floor isn't so bad. maybe you could get him one of the bed tents to make it more appealing to him to stay there. it would be his little fort, where he could keep himself safe and his imagination running.

as for your girl, maybe you should think about whether or not she's seen anything on t.v. lately or shows that might be more scary than what's she's used to. that or maybe someone is talking to her about scary things (my 4 year old will tell me at bed time things that her friend told her the day before that are still bothering her) again, maybe she could have a bed tent too, (ok, i'm kind of a 'tent' person since i've seen that all kids like to have some sense of ownership over their own space, even if it's just the size of their bed!) at least then she would know that her tent is her 'house' and in her house she's in charge and she can ask anyone to leave if she wants-even scary boys!)

Good Luck!

A.

ps
we don't believe in a family bed either, my 4 yo girl asked me the other day if she could sleep with me and i said "but where would you fit?" and she said, "maybe i'll just have to have the bottom" it was really very silly.

I had the same "scary room" problem with my son. Every once in a while, though, he still hears or sees scary things. Keeping the hallway light on, as well as night lights, really helps a lot. Another thing that has helped me is validating my son's thoughts/feelings. I always ask him who he sees or where they are. I look in their direction and tell them "Monster (he had one named "Crazy" once, but I digress...), we don't let monsters or mean people in this house! This is Mommy's house and Mommy's makes the rules. So... you gotta go!" Sometimes I even help them out the door if they don't go leave right away. The more dramatic you are, the more she'll feel secure and supported. You may want to knock on the wall and talk to the boy inside it and tell him that he is scaring your daughter and you don't think that is very nice. This is your house and no one is allowed to scare any of your family, so he has to go and not come back. If he comes back again, you are going to be very upset with him. Then confirm to your daughter that he agreed to leave.

Go get those Mommy's Monster Butt-Kicking Boots on!

Good luck! :)

Hi A.! My name is J. and boy have you brougt back Memories...our oldest is 36 and he did the very same thing! We also put up the gate, child proofed the room and I think after about a month he slept in his bed. He would grab his blanket (all of our children had a "blanket") and sleep on the floor. I agree that it doesn't hurt them to sleep on the floor. You could get him a sleeping bag and try that on the floor if your worried that he will get cold, or better yet blanket sleepers.
Now this is what we did for the monsters...might sound silly but it worked. Take a spray bottle and fill it with scented water, or just water and decorate the bottle with pictures of monsters...and show her how to spray the monster's when they come to visit. Besure every night that its full or she will wake you up saying mommie I ran out of Monster repelant. But I do love one of the other Mom's suggestion about standing her ground and Telling the monsters off! LOL
Good luck fighting the monsters and keeping the tot in his bed. J.

I had a similar problem with my oldest son not wanting to sleep in the toddler bed. He would sleep under it, around it, anywhere but on it. We actually took the mattress off and put it on the floor. This, he would sleep on, for some reason. Once he had slept consistently on the mattress on the floor for a few months we put the bed back under it. Occasionally we would find him on the floor again, but most of the time he used the bed. Just an idea, I hope it helps.

this is a prblem i just encoutered with my four year old, and we love the "monster repellent" we use febreeze. its too funny but we spay every night before we go to bed and he loves it. it so funny the things we can use for monster repellent. oh and it smells so good.

Hello my name is V. and I have a suggestion, Go to Build a Bear and get a stuff animal that your children will pick out and record your voices into them. Whenever they want to feel near you all they have to do is squeeze the push button and there you are! Maybe hearing your voice will comfort them.