At first, I thought it was normal, that maybe he’d had a nightmare. But then it started happening more often, and he got more and more scared.
One night, he woke up screaming and saying he saw monsters in his room. I hugged him, spoke softly, and reassured him that nothing was wrong. But still, he didn’t want to go back to sleep alone. It was hard for me to see him so distressed
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Oh my gosh, Denisse! This sounds so harsh! My 3 year old has been doing something similar lately, and it breaks my heart every time The scary thing is how real it seems to them, you know? I try to have a nightlight on and stay in the room for a while until she calms down Sometimes just holding her for a few minutes helps It’s exhausting, but worth it when she finally relaxes You are not alone in this!
Hi Denisse, my daughter also went through this phase, and what really helped her was establishing a little “monster spraying” routine. I used a spray bottle with water and some lavender essential oil, and we sprayed the room together before bed It became a sort of ritual that gave her a sense of control and security I also started reading her a calming bedtime story focused on courage and kindness before turning off the light It made a huge difference in just a few weeks Maybe something like this would work for you?
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Haha, I totally get it My son started screaming about “shadow monsters” at 2 a.m., and I Googled “how to become a ninja to fight monsters.” No joke I even tried negotiating with the “monsters”; I promised them snacks if they left my son alone Spoiler: it didn’t work, haha. But seriously, we ended up turning it into a silly game where my son “catches” monsters with his flashlight It took away his fear and gave him some power over his nightmares It’s amazing how creative you have to be sometimes Cheer up!
Wow, that sounds really hard Denisse It’s so painful to watch your little one scared like that and not know exactly how to fix it Sometimes it feels like no matter how much reassurance we give, the fear just sticks around. I don’t have any magic solution, just wanted to say you’re doing an amazing job being there for him in those scary moments It’s one of the hardest parts of parenting, for sure
This is exactly what’s happening to my daughter and I’m stumped too I’ve tried talking about the monsters and telling her they aren’t real but she just gets more upset Does anyone else’s kid wake up super scared but can’t really explain why? I’m wondering if this is just a phase or if there’s something deeper going on Would love to hear if anyone else has experienced this and how you cope