Friday, October 14, 2011

What To Do About Night Time Fears?

The minute the light turns out, my two year has suddenly started being terrified by anything and everything.  It started with a need for a night light (which we got her), but now she's still afraid of the dark plus her "scary bed", the "bug that wants to eat her", the "dinosaur that bites her", and the "other side of the room that has a monster in it".  I've tried 'Monster Spray' (to spray at those monsters so they'll disappear), stuffed guardian angel doll, stuffed Mary doll to cuddle, plus all her other comfort pillows, blankets, toys, books and water.   There's hardly room in that bed for her!

I've always thought if you just let your child know that their guardian angel is there to protect them and that God is always with them, that's enough to give them a good night's sleep in their own bed.  Not this girl.  She won't be convinced by any of that.  I've told her so many times that God is bigger than anything bad, but she still screams the minute I turn to leave her room at night. 

It's escalated so bad in the past week that if she can't sleep in my bed, she'll scream bloody murder until her voice gives out.  She will not give up!  I don't mind her sleeping in my bed, but my husband does.   He says he is a magnet for little feet.  If the kids sleep in our bed, they always end up kicking him all night.  Poor guy.   Plus, I don't want this to become a habit.

Anyone got any advice on things to try? Should I just let sleep in my bed until she grows out of it?  I'm sure there are plenty of people who have been through this...right??

8 comments:

Allison said...

Hmmm....our boys were in our bed way longer than I expected. The now-12-year-old still likes to fall asleep reading in our bed. We take him to our room when we head to bed. The other day he was sick and slept with me in the bed and the hubbie stayed downstairs on the couch.

I guess if I had to "err" on one side or the other it would be this. I just don't think the problems of the world are caused by little ones being too attached to their parents when they are children.

Could you lie down with your daughter in her bed until she falls asleep?

Allison said...

correx: We take him to HIS bed when my husband and I are heading to OUR bed...

Our Catholic Family said...

We were there last year. I couldn't figure out what to do, then while reading eat, pray, love (stay with me here) she has a GREAT story about the balianese protectors. I retold that story as a guardian angel story. Then, we got holy water at mass and took it home. We used the holy water to bless ourselves before bed and get rid of all evil. Because we all know evil can't survive holy water! They had their own holy water font in their room and their own crucifix.

It worked that very same night.

If threy ever got scared I'd tell them the story about the guardian angel and about the warrior St. Michael and how he defeated Satan himself and about Rapheal the archangel they LOVED IT! in fact, I got a St' Michael esque statue from Fontanini. Also, the 24th is the feast of the Archangels what a great reinforcement :)

Maggie said...

We watched the movie Monsters Inc - took all fear of monsters right out of them. Literally - a month later, they didn't even talk about them anymore! :0)

Meadow said...

my kids like nightlights and blessings with Holy Water.

Jamie Jo said...

Just remember that whatever she's going through now, will be a different thing in 3 months. It seems every 3 months it's something different, they move on.

I was going to say the holy water thing, but figured you already know that one. Monster's Inc is a good idea....

Had to laugh, because, we have a 5 year old and 2 year old who love to join us in bed sometime throughout the night and I really don't mind, but Tom is like your hubby. I've got to get them out of my bed before this baby comes!!! Bridget (the 2 year old) just won't stay in her bed, If I let her cry, she literally cries for hours. The other night, I tried it and she cried on and off from 1:30 am til 4:40 am...when I fell asleep, not sure if she did or not.

Sorry, this is not really any advice, just a "I understand" comment!!!

noreen said...

Hi Sarah, is your two year old still in her crib? My son only went through that phase briefly and he was in his own bed by then. I would cuddle with him for awhile until he was sleepy. Not all the way asleep, just until he was calm and sleepy. That worked for him. If he was in an upset mode, there was no way he could calm himself down enough to sleep.

You've received great comments from other bloggers. I love the holy water idea to bless your child's room.

Johanna said...

Hi Sarah,

My older kids have been through this stage and they outgrew it. With one of them, I stayed in his room until he fell asleep. I took this time to catch up on my reading. At that time, I saw it as an inconvenience. Now, I treasure those times.

My little ones are afraid of the dark too. Sometimes they come to our bed. I just let them fall asleep and put them in their beds. I don't like being kicked either, especially when you have a baby that doesn't sleep through the night. Other times, we just stay close to their room in the computer.

My husband does a blessing to the whole family and sprinkle them with Holy Water, when we have it available.
I really think that more than fear, is a desire to feel protected. Time flies, so I try to enjoy them.

I hope this helps.