Mom to Mom

[sarahpanda]

 My 3 year old niece has her own big girl bed now but doesn't want to sleep in her room because she thinks there are 'monsters in the closet'...um..there aren't. It may just be her way of getting to sleep with mom and dad in their room but ...if your child ever went through the 'monsters in the closet phase', how did you deal with it? TIA

[qualitygal]

during the day, go with your child, checkout the closet together.  Let her have that  door open with the light on when she goes to bed. Let her turn on the light, check out the closet with you, and leave the door propped open.  Leave it on, until she says she no longer needs it.  It'll probably be over before you know it.  It will give peace of mind, well worth it.

[CalminHeart]

One of my kids went through monsters under the bed. I put water in a little spray bottle, called it monster juice. We made a habit of looking under the bed and spraying for monsters at bedtime.  He slept better the first couple of nights and then all night after that.

I also put a table and small lamp by his bed. I let him pick out a couple of books and toys that he could quietly play with if he woke up. He liked that independence. 

Just don't let her see you put water in the bottle.

[Still Raining]

They were under my bed!  I used to take flying leaps off the bad to get to the toilet in the night!  

For little ones it is a real thing, not to be minimized.  I would give some tools to deal it.  Leave closet door open, search closet, flashlight?

[skatting44]

  Very common , for little ones to fear areas that are dark. Open the closet door at night  and get a light  that will shine in the closet. We had a kids light that looked like a turtle which had lights and played music .

That's what I did .  The fear went away  very quickly .

[timeless]

When our son was afraid of monsters, we purchased the book, The Monster Trap by Dean Morrissey, read it together and then let him make his own "trap" out of tinker toys, etc.  He baited it with a cheese sandwich.

Since I had purchased a stuffed monster earlier that he didn't know about, my husband and I placed it inside the trap after our son went to bed.  

The next morning our son was shocked to find he caught the monster.  (We took a bite of the sandwich for authenticity.) 

We made friends with the monster and to this day, he still has it on his bed.  He's now 17!  LoL

Maybe something like this will work for your little girl on the last night you let her sleep in your room?

[Puggywuggy]

Goodness yes! As a child I slept with my closet door closed...and still do, LOL. Seriously though, bless her little heart! You have received some excellent advice. For my children and grandchildren, we did most of the above mentioned which worked and they eventually grew out of it. Best of luck!

[SaveTheTurtles]

This is a common one. I used to have a nightlight in my kids rooms so it wasn't totally dark. I also agree with letting them check the closet out before bedtime and letting them either sleep with it open or closed, whichever made it more comforting for them.

[ECBG]

Our son, 3, had big 3ft pink blow up bunny for Easter.  I put together his Easter basket so I have no idea.  DH put bunny in his closet, did the bed time ritual and turned on the night light next to the stuffed closet door.  When DH closed the door, the closet popped open and bunny stuck his head out!

We all deflated bunny and took him out!!!

DS is almost 43 now and still remembers it vividly!!!