DD scared of her room

southbride

We moved in our new house in September and DD has been fine until recently. She won't sleep in her room she keeps saying she is scared. Last night she wouldn't even go in there with us without crying. Any advise?

angelakh

Does she have a night light?  Are their weird shadows?  Strange noises - our laundry room is under DD's room so sometimes she will hear the washer or dryer if they are running at night?

Depending on her age, she may be using it as a manipulation tactic.  "But, I'm scared" is a common stall tactic for our DD at bedtime.

I would go into her room at night under the same circumstances you send her to bed and see if there is something that could scare her.

I would not play into it by spraying monster repellent, searching closets, or under the bed.  That just plays into her fear and gives her reason to be afraid.  

luvmagoldn

Can she tell you what is scaring her - specifically?  Did you move into an older home or a new build?

southbride

She says it is the windows. We are remodeling an older home her room has been completely redone.

franciscaz

Harm gets lonely.  We got him a twilight turtle and a Mater Cars pillow.  It has helped him.  When he or the twins wake up though we just consistently put him right back where he started.  After a while he realizes resistance is futile.

kmhunt11

DD has been scared of the smoke detector in her room since the battery chirped early in the morning a few months ago.  We talked a lot about smoke detectors for awhile to show her that there is nothing scary about them.  I would even joke around in the morning when I got her up and say "Thanks for keeping us safe last night, smoke detector!"  She still wants us to cover her all the way up over her face when we tuck her in, but she's better about it.  I know it scared her at first, but it became just her thing to do- pretend to be scared of it.  After a couple of weeks of talking about how they help us, etc. we let it drop and would say "I don't want to talk about smoke detectors right now."  She persisted for a little while and then dropped it, too.  It might be hard with windows, but maybe find something to joke about surrounding the remodel.  We never let DD sleep anywhere other than her room, and she knows it, so she doesn't ask.  

ilovemygirls

Three's & four's are notorious for developing weird new fears.  The more you play into those fears, the longer this will take to get through.  I'm not saying don't be compassionate, but you do need to work through it whether it is to get a special new night light, a sticker chart w/prizes for staying in her room, etc.  If you let her stay out of her room, you are just reinforcing her fears, so it can take some time but if you stick to your normal routine as much as possible it will pass.  When my DD went through phases like this I'd go in there with her, read books & wind down (like we usually do) and then tell her I'd stay for 'X' minutes and would come check on her in 'X' minutes.  Eventually it just worked itself out.  It's hard though!

Jena503

Gel window clings. Decorate the window for christmas or with vinyl characters (tinkerbell is on dd's window)