Are Your Kids Afraid Of Bedtime Monsters?

We have all been there...little Susie doesn't want to go to sleep because she is scared a ghost is hiding in the closet. So you spend countless hours convincing her there is nothing there but you still wind up waking up with a third little person in your bed in the morning. SO, what can you do?! 

I found this amazing little compilation of solutions for this MONSTER of a problem by my new favorite blog Happy Hooligans and it is a MUST READ! Put those scary creatures to bed with a few of these clever ideas! Enjoy!

Monster Spray: Decorate an empty spray bottle, or grab a printable Monster Spray label here, and fill ‘it with water and a few drops of essential oil. Mist your child’s bedroom at night, paying special attention to the closet and under the bed.  Dozens of parents swear by this trick, and I am one of them!

Monster swatter: One caregiver reported: “I have a fly swatter with the words “Monster Swatter” printed on it. I’ve sent it home with several of my daycare kids to keep until they swat the monsters out of their room. They usually sleep with it a few nights and return it to me when they are ready. It’s been 100% effective!”

Monster hunt:  “I had issues with bedtime monsters in my closet and My Mom and Dad brought up a garbage bag to my room and went Monster hunting and threw all the creatures away in the garbage! and I must say it worked!”

Kick ‘em to the curb:  When my oldest was afraid of bedtime monsters, I’d would pretend to round up all the monsters in his room, and I would escort them down the hall, speaking loudly so my son could hear me “Come on, you, out you get!  Away you go!  You’re not welcome here!”  I’d open the front door, and slam it shut while hollering “…and don’t come back”.  Then I would walk back to my son’s room, dusting off my hands, and announce “They’re gone.”  He loved that!

Carry them out:  Get a big empty box, go into the room and close the door. Make a few thumps and bumps and come out with the box, making it move around as though there’s something in it. Huff and puff as if it’s heavy, and take it outside to the bin. …and similarly, another reader reported: “I had issues with monsters in my closet and My Mom amd Dad brought up a garbage bag to my room and went Monster hunting and threw all the creatures away in the garbage! and I must say it worked!”

Watch a monster movie: Two titles that parents mentioned time and time again were Disney’s “Monsters Inc”. and Veggie Tales’ “Where’s God When I’m Scared”.  Both can be purchased through Amazon.com

Special Powers:

• “My husband very seriously told the boys he had special power, and he could pass it to them. He laid his hands on their heads for a moment and then said “Monsters…BE GONE”  He then told them to hold their arms out and repeat the words,  This special “ceremony” resulted in my husband having to say this EVERY night at bedtime with the boys, and sometimes, in the middle of the night, we would hear a tiny voice loudly proclaim “MONSTERS…BE GONE”.

• “We empowered our boys. We had them tell the bedtime monsters that it was time to go to bed and go home. Usually worked.”

• ‘We tell ours to ‘abracadabra’ them into funny frogs and tell them to hop away. He ‘abracadabras’ everything with a pretend magic stick so we suggested it for monsters and it’s worked really well.”

• “My husband preformed a smudging ritual for bedtime.”

Tools to banish bedtime monsters:

• A magic blanket some children believe they’re safe as long as they stay underneath it.
• an old remote control to “change the channel” of their dream if they’re having a bad one.
• soft music and a night light
• ” We take foam swords and go door to door with them to fight them off before bed”
• Use an empty squirt gun and shoot under the bed and into the closets every night.
• a flashlight that turns off automatically after 10 minutes can be comforting if they wake up scared in the night.

• Listen for the sounds: Lay in bed with your child and listen.  Ask him to identify the sounds that scare him.  Sometimes it’s the car racing by or the screeching of a cat.  A young child isn’t able to make sense of these sounds when he hears them in the night, and assumes they belong to something very scary.

• Look around from their level: Lay on the bed with your child and look around.  Is there something casting a scary shadow on the wall?  A chair or piece of clothing hanging from a hook?  Move it.

• Move the bed so that your child can see out his or her bedroom door.  Leave the door open a little and a hall light on.

• Monster costume or pyjamas:  Monsters are afraid of other monsters, so dress like one!  You can an old tee shirt into this  easy no-sew monster sleep shirt!

Enlist the help of your furry friends:  

“My son is going through same thing. Both our parents have big dogs, so he has a picture of a dog warning sign and he puts it into the bedroom window as thats where he thinks the monster’s are.”

• Many parents assure their child that their cat or dog protects their house from monsters at night.
• “Dogs eat monsters.  That’s why they lick their chops in the night”.
• A favourite stuffed animal perched high on a shelf will keep watch over the room and protect the child.   One mom recommends using a stuffed owls because owls are known to remain awake and alert all night.

Ask your child where the monsters are:

• Under the bed?  Get down on your hands and knees order the monsters to get out.  Get firm with them if need be.
• In the closet?  Lean a chair up against the closet door.

• Sprinkle salt on the window ledge and in the doorway.  Monsters are allergic to salt.

Call up some Fairy Friends:

Sprinkle homemade fairy dust around the bedroom. Make a fairy door so fairies can come and go throughout the night. Sprinkle a pinch of “pixie dust” (baby powder) over the bed at night.

Charms and Chimes:

• Make a lucky charm for your child to hold while she sleeps – a rock or a plastic crystal for example.
• Hang a wind chime in the window and tinkle it to scare the monsters away before turning out the lights.
• Invent a chant to say at bedtime: “Abracadabra, Allakazam, send the monsters to another land.” to hang it in the window to trap bad dreams and ward off monsters.  I LOVEthis dream catcher by Crafting Connections.
• Wash up and brush up: Some parents have had success by telling their children that monsters do not like the smell of toothpaste, shampoo or soap.  Bonus – your child will be eager to have his hair washed and brush his teeth!