Monsters....what do you tell them??

Not what do you tell the monsters....what do you tell your little ones about monsters??

DD is almost three, doesnt watch scary shows, infact doesnt watch alot of tv really, doesnt really hang out with alot of other kids/older sibings to tell her about monsters and it not something ive ever bought up.....how do kids even know about monsters?

She askes me every day about monsters, apparently they have big teeth and fire on tjhier bodies..,.,.ive tried telling they dont exist...that our house is safe etc...that there are only friendly monsters...but every night she asks me the scary monster is still there.

what do you say to yours????

I say "there's no such thing as monsters. They are only pretend." It turns out DD was scared because she has a nightlight that changes colour so it looks like the shadows in her bedroom are moving. A change of lamp quickly fixed that.

When I was a kid, my big thing wasn't monsters, there was a witch under my bed. It terrified me because I always woke up in the middle of the night needing to pee and was too scared to step on the floor because the witch would reach out and get me!

Mum and Dad telling me witches weren't real didn't make a scrap of difference. When you wake up in the dark, alone, it's still scary. A night light didn't make much difference. The one thing that did work, is when he put me to bed at night, Dad would vacuum under my bed. I dunno, I must've thought he was sucking up the witch! I was fine everytime he did that :)

With my brother he got night terrors after watching Home Alone - he always thought someone was coming through his window, and every night he'd pelt up the hall into Mum & Dad's bed screaming. That took longer to get over, but Dad got him to help put new locks and stuff on the windows to show him no one could get in.

Good luck with your DD and her monsters!

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When I was a kid, my big thing wasn't monsters, there was a witch under my bed. It terrified me because I always woke up in the middle of the night needing to pee and was too scared to step on the floor because the witch would reach out and get me!

Mum and Dad telling me witches weren't real didn't make a scrap of difference. When you wake up in the dark, alone, it's still scary. A night light didn't make much difference. The one thing that did work, is when he put me to bed at night, Dad would vacuum under my bed. I dunno, I must've thought he was sucking up the witch! I was fine everytime he did that :)

With my brother he got night terrors after watching Home Alone - he always thought someone was coming through his window, and every night he'd pelt up the hall into Mum & Dad's bed screaming. That took longer to get over, but Dad got him to help put new locks and stuff on the windows to show him no one could get in.

Good luck with your DD and her monsters!

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your dad sounds awesome....vacuming under your bed every night!! cute!

Ive tried the whole they arnt really, just in stories thing....she litterally laughed at me and told me i was wrong. she has a little orange light but it just sheds enough light to make it not pitch black, but she didnt like the other lights we tried...all too bright apparently.

she draws monsters quite often. and we end up talking about them atleast twice a day...if not more! i have to admit im a little worried.....although im sure its normal.

Going to sound weird, but around the same time DD started fretting about monsters, Monsters Inc had just come out - we sat down and watched it with her, and then she started poking her head under the bed and going "BOO!!" to scare the monsters away before bedtime :lol:

Don't know what I would've done otherwise, I have to admit.

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Going to sound weird, but around the same time DD started fretting about monsters, Monsters Inc had just come out - we sat down and watched it with her, and then she started poking her head under the bed and going "BOO!!" to scare the monsters away before bedtime :lol:

Don't know what I would've done otherwise, I have to admit.

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maybe i should try that :)

It is a lovely movie and still one of DD's faves, nearly 6 years later

**feels old now**

DS is 3 and the scary monsters hang about his light.

We've had lot's of discussions about them monsters. I ask him if they are scary monsters or friendly monsters, if he says he hasn't asked I tell him to ask and if they are scary monsters that he can tell them to go away and that they have to. That monsters can only stay if they have his permission. If they are friendly monsters then they can stay cause they look after him and help protect him from the scary monsters.

Sometimes I go in with the water spray bottle and pretend it has special potion in it so they can't come around, other times I get him to visualise that he is surrounded by white light and that means there is no room for scary monsters... whatever works ;)

We hunt down the scary monsters. They are more scared of us. I roar at them and they run away. DS loves Monsters, Inc. too - but the really scary monster there, Randall, wasn't scared of Boo, so I haven't brought that up.

Now, DS can use his XMen superpowers to get rid of naughty monsters. But I think I've scared all the monsters away from our house. Oh, and put a locked gate up the chimney so the zombies can't come down it and eat our brains.

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. Oh, and put a locked gate up the chimney so the zombies can't come down it and eat our brains.

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:rofl:

My kids must be weird - they LOVE monsters! They know they're scary and have big teeth and eat you etc etc, but we treat it like a big joke, usually with DH giving them a big lecture about how dangerous monsters are, then he goes and hides in the bathroom and waits for them to walk past the doorway and jumps out screaming in his 'monster voice' - the girls think it's absolutely hysterical (not so funny at bedtime though when I'm trying to get them settled for bed and he stirs them up and has them running around the house screaming at the top of their lungs lol)! So my advice would be to try and take the fear out of the scary monsters by turning it into a game, pull out your claws and go *rawwwrrr* and hopefully they'll seem less scary! Good luck :)

I'm all for honesty and saying they aren't real, but a 3yo with a hyperactive imagination is no match for me lol.
If she brought it up I'd do a room clearance for her, show her empty spaces and then I had a monster spray (lavender water) that I'd use.
Monsters Inc scared her to death, so I stopped that one fairly quickly.

I hope this doesn't offend anyone because that is not my intention but I wanted to answer the OP's question ...

I have heard a few psychologists talk about monsters and they say not to play alone with looking under the bed/in the cupboard or anything else because that leaves kids with the impression that they do have a reason to be scared and that there is a possibility that monsters will be there. It can frighten them even more in the long run. Instead they suggest being honest and saying that monster don't exist. If kids are scared at night, work out with them things that you can do so that they aren't scared.

Again, sorry if that offends anyone. I am not trying to have a go at your responses, just answer the OP :)

^ No offence taken here :) I can definitely see the sense in that POV - just in my own experience, it's incredibly frustrating going to mum and dad with what you feel is a valid concern/fear, and having them 'brush it off' by saying monsters aren't real, itms? We play along and it works for us, each family and child is different though so I know your suggestion definitely has credibility and validity :) Like I said, my kids are just really strange, they're not afraid of *anything* (except maybe Daddy's raised hand heading in their direction when they're into something they shouldn't be!) and for some reason think scary monsters and 'umpies' (DD2's word for 'zombies', she even does the 'Raaarr, I'ma eat your braaaiiinnns!') are hilarious ;) But very good point!

Glad I'm not the only Zombie Mamma! I'm trying to come up with a story about the Zom Bees, little undead insects that eat brains instead of pollen, and don't "buzz" but "braaaaaaaiins" instead. Aside from the concept it isn't going too well. Maybe they get into a fight with Zom Wasps and win?

Just Me, I agree with you in theory. But what do you do when you look under the bed, see nothing, and your child points to the monster and is still scared? I make sure he knows there are no monsters because I am bigger and badder than any monster there is.