Help!! My 3yr old is now afraid to go to bed at night.?

Question

My 3yr old son all of the sudden is afraid to sleep in his bedroom. It started about 4 days ago. He all of the sudden started screaming before we put him to bed saying there are scary things in his room. He even wanted his crib back! My wife and I brought him in and told him there was nothing to be afraid of. We asked what he was scared of and he wouldnt get specific. He has a nightlight in his room. I ended up getting his mobile back out to play while he was in bed...then...I went and bought a liitle light up "sword" (nothing sharp about 12 inches long with a battery that he can use as a little flashlight) and told him that was mine when I was a boy and it was my fathers that we both had to protect us at night. If he ever felt scard he just turns it on and can shine it around to see that there is nothing there. He still whines about bedtime and wants the blanket to be pulled over his head.

Is there any advise so I can get rid of the mobile...again and the light?

Answer 1

Look at the room from his point of view... See if there are weird shadows or configurations of furniture clothes etc. that his ripe imaginatin could be turning into a monster... Spend a night quietly in the room listening to sounds have your spouse flush toilets and run water in all the faucets etc. Sometimes at night you hear a pipe groan that you don't notice during the noisier day...

Check outside the window to see if something out there could be frightening him.. Also check for branches etc. that could be brushing the house creating a shadow and accompanying sound... Everynight before he goes to bed check all closets under the bed etc with him close the closet door...

Make sure he is not being exposed to television/movies that will feed his imagination on the scary subject... WIth Halloween coming up and many scary movies coming out kids sometimes see a commercial that sparks thier imagination about monsters and scary things and once thier imagination gets going it's a juggernaut...

Get a radio and play it softly to mask any odd house settling, pipe noises in his room... Look into getting a preasure sensative or timed flashlight they only activate if you child holds them or go off after a few minutes on thier own... (they save batteries)...

Above all remember this fear of his is completely real to him... He needs an ally to defeat this fear and you are that ally hunt it down and destroy the cause...

Answer 2

He's at the age where it's very typical to be "scared" to go to bed. Not to be rude, but also at the age where he's learning that he can manipulate you...see he's got his mobile, a light, AND a sword!! I have a 3 1/2 year old son who did the same thing a few months ago. He noticed that if he said he was scared of something, we would react immediatley. The best advice to get rid of things, is take the mobile when he is not home and hide it. At bed time, when he asks, look around desperatley for it, and say that it's lost. Then gradually let him choose between the sword or the night light. He'll grow out of it soon enough, and know that you know he's really not scared!! It's a tough time, I know. I feel for you!!

Answer 3

I don't have kids and I'm not a professional but I have a suggestion. During bedtime put him in his bed and then 'check' every inch of his room and say 'Nothing there!' to show him there is really nothing there. Then after a few days try taking the mobile away and then a few days after that the light. Tell him that he doesn't need it anymore because he's a big boy.

If this consists maybe you should talk to someone.

Well that's all I can say. Hope I helped some.

Answer 4

Our oldest daughters did this too around this age, we had them both screaming and crying every night. What we did was we would leave the big light on and the doors open and we let them turn off the light when they were ready. It took several months but they now sleep with no nightlights and thier bedroom door completely closed and it was thier own doing. We don't let them watch TV in thier room at night and we try to read a few books every night to give them a chance to calm down. Hope this helps.

Answer 5

We put water in a spray bottle & sprayed my daughter's room every night with "monster spray". It also would work with Febreze or something like that. I just put a sticker on the bottle that said "No More Monsters" or something like that. We also let her sleep with the "big" light on for a period of time - then we eased into the night light and eventually got rid of that too. The only other suggestion I have is if your son has a tv in his room leave it on at night - the light from the tv will be enough for him to "see" and the tv may help him go to sleep at night. Good luck!

Answer 6

Go into your son's room at night with all the lights turned off and lay on the bed. See if there are any scary shadows that are on the walls from either the light from the night light or from the street. Move things accordingly. Also listen for strange sounds as well.

Answer 7

My daughter did a similar thing from age 3 to 4 - I believe its part of their 'separation anxiety' - they are starting to get to the age where they are no longer an extension of mum and dad, but have their own conciousness - he may have just realised that he's on his own in his room and now it seems a big and scary place. My daughter was pacified when I would go back on check on her in 5 minutes, then 10 and then 20 and so on. Usually, it would only take that first time of checking in, and she'd be asleep.

Answer 8

What a good Dad!
Great job!

We had something similar and he would come in at the same time every night and really screaming, SO we created a palette on the floor in his room and sleep with him for a few nights. I was startled awake from his room.
[We live behind a bank and office building- On weekends-1am-3am the ATM was just crazy with loud cars and on week nights at 2am the garbage truck came to empty the several dumpsters of businesses- very loud and beeping sounds.]

So besides the palette, I added a CD player with relaxing music on replay all night long. The addition of the music, we backed out of the room and he was okay with it.

So good luck.

Answer 9

At three she's overdue for potty training and is probably frustrated with her nappy and uncomfortable sleeping in it so she takes it off, smart girl :) Does she still have a bottle? This would explain all the fluid and I'd say get rid of that as fast as you can. However if she has normal fluid intake and still wets this much I would take her to the doctor as a kidney infection could be to blame. Bottom line though this girl should be getting up to the toilet :S

Answer 10

Think back to when this started. Did he see something on TV that might have scared him? Someone tell him about monsters? If you can get him to tell you what he is scared of, like monsters for example, tell him you will go buy some 'MONSTER-BE-GONE' at the store. Buy a spray bottle and put a label on it with monster-be-gone on it and when it's time for bed have him spray some around his room and see if that works. Monsters, bad guys, bugs, whatever, try this with whatever is scaring him and see if that will ease his mind.