Cloth Nappy Tree Forum

My little boy is nearly 3 and for about a week we've been having issues with him not going to sleep well because of shadows, monsters, etc.
He has a nice bedtime routine which has not changed and he has a light who he can switch on and off himself.
I've tried explaining shadows to him and tried to make them fun by doing hand creatures on the wall, with no joy.
On the monster front I tell him that monsters aren't real and in any case nothing like that will come into our house because of the dog.

Any other ideas/advice/ experiences?

TIA x

You could get some monsters-be-gone spray!?

aka a spray bottle with water and your choice of essential oils....

Liking that idea, its fab thank you @sim x

I ve not had this too much with mine.
My only thoughts were ( from work with visually impaired kids) is that lamps can sometimes make things look more distorted and worse as they throw out light at funny angles. A light that throws out even light ( if that makes sense) such as a plug in one or a main light on a dimmer or the hall light etc can be better.
I m not sure what light you have so this might not be an issue.

The only other thing is the same for any fear, is to acknowledge that they are frightened and how real it is to them and you can then come up with a plan together as to what would make things feel better ( obviously within reason!).

So, I would still say that monsters don t exist but that you understand that the thinking about monsters is making him upset / frightened and that the shadows and darkness are making him upset/ frightened and ask him what he thinks would make him feel better. I would then maybe suggest things to him like what about cuddling your favourite toy and thinking about the adventures they ve had today or tell your toy whay you ve been doing today and reassure him that you re not far away and you will check on him?
Acknowledgment of fear, plan of action and then something to distract from it

Just some ideas, sounds like you re doing this anyway. Hth, and good luck.

Thank you x

He has an ikea moon light on the wall above his headboard, I've also got him a wind up torch at hand.
I also leave his door very slightly ajar with the landing light on ( he asks for this)
I want to help settle his phobia without making it worse iykwim- great suggestions, thanks ladies x

We went through this with Lockie at a very similar age. We tried lots of different methods but the one thing that sorted it out was Daddy took him on a special shopping trip to the Disney store so Lockie could choose his own "special big boy bed toy" he ended up choosing a 2 foot high simba and from that night on Simba looked after him. We also got them Monsters Inc to watch to show that monsters can be fun.

When I was little I was terrified of the witch in the wardrobe. For me, my fear was real, so no amount of telling me that the witch wasn't real helped. At that age, I just couldn't control my imagination.
My mum used to tie a 'magic' ribbon around the door handles to keep the witch in the wardrobe. As soon as she did this, I was fine. I finally grew out of the witch scenario and thankfully don't need the ribbon on the doors any more

I would roll with his fears, the monsters aren't real but his fears are. Use monster spray and help him to feel safe with 'protection' around him. He'll learn to control his imagination soon so that it doesn't run away with him.