Some kids are afraid of monsters, some are afraid of the dark, mine is afraid of wolves. I'll be honest, they freak me out a bit too, but I understand that I'm not likely to meet one in my bedroom as I'm going to sleep.
Or am I?
We're not sure where the fear stems from, but we're fairly certain he's been having nightmares about wolves. We have two theories about the source:
- Bryan's grandparents have a picture book that depicts the story of Little Red Riding Hood. Peter keeps talking about the wolf being at Grandma and Grandpa's house, so maybe that's where it's from.
- We've been reading the Little House books for over a year now. Peter seems to really like them and to understand what I'm reading. Wolves do play a role in the story.
Now it's exhausting.
Peter has gotten to the point that he won't go to sleep unless Bryan or I are there cuddling him. He's also started waking up in the middle of the night screaming and shaking. It's awful. I'll say a prayer with him and sing a song and he says that helps, but the minute I get up to go back to my room he says "No Mommy, stay. Keep me safe. You will keep me safe." It doesn't seem to matter that I've told him over and over that he is safe, that the walls are strong and the doors are locked, that I can hear him from my room and will come to help him is he needs me. I haven't been convincing enough yet, I suppose.
This makes nap time tough because Cooper really needs some one-on-one mom time and that's usually when he gets it. For the last two days Peter has refused to sleep, but has instead decided to stand at his gate and sob and scream for me to "Come here right now! You can! You will! Keep me safe Mommy! Keep me safe!"
That's what happened tonight. Bryan had to work late. (He actually just walked in and it's 11:17) Dinner had gone well, the boys were both in their pajamas, Cooper was letting me know that he was hungry. We said family prayer and did our bedtime routine of reading two books and singing two songs. I gave Peter a hug and a kiss and told him I love him. We weren't even out the door before Peter launched into hysterics. I told him that I would come back to check on him, which I did, repeatedly. He stood screaming for me for twenty-five minutes. When Cooper got to a point that I could leave him for a minute, I went into Peter. His head was drenched in sweat and his face was puffy from crying. The only reason he finally allowed himself to drift off was that I brought an annoyed Cooper into Peter's room and bounced him while humming to both boys.
We're exhausted from many nights of broken sleep and we're concerned about Peter. How do we convince him that safe doesn't have to mean that mommy or daddy is holding your hand? And how do we banish the wolf?
5 comments:
Maybe you should go "wolf-hunting" before he goes to bed, or make some kind of thing that would keep the wolf out. You know maybe something that could sit right outside his door so he knows that the wolf will be scared if he comes. Oh, and lots and lots of prayers, those seem to help little kids, and big kids (like me!).
Hmmm. . . this is a toughy. I'm interested to see what works for you, so make sure you keep us updated when he gets over it. Poor kid.
Each kid is so different it'll be interesting to see what works for him. I'd try Lemira's tactic and go wolf hunting together. You could also try getting him something to sleep with that will protect him, maybe a stuffed animal(like a bear or something that could chase that wolf off) or a fake sword(though I'm not sure how you feel about weapons), or some sort of little action figure toy.
Elisabeth sleeps in the basement and for a little while(and still every once and awhile) she'll be afraid of sleeping down there on her own. So we have a picture of Jesus holding several children up on the wall directly across from her bed so that when she's in bed she can always see it. Then at night we say a prayer that we'll be safe and happy and then once the prayer is finished and if she's still feeling scared i tell her to just look at her picture of Jesus and remember all the good and wonderful things about him and that he loves her and will watch over her. We also used to keep a baby monitor in her room so that I could hear from our room upstairs which helped sometimes. Wow, this is long, sorry.
When I was little I was afraid of monsters. I did many of the same things Peter is doing. My mom finally bought a spray can of air freshener and told me it was monster spray. Whenever I thought there was a monster all I had to do was spray it and as long as I could smell it I was safe. The smell lasted long enough for me to fall asleep and my mom didn't have to sit in the room with me anymore.
No fun. Benjamin is still afraid the monsters will get him once in a while. We have him tell them to go away because Mommy, Daddy, and Jesus love him, and we encourage him to ask Jesus to help him not be afraid of the monsters. Sometimes it works better than others. Good luck!
I honestly don't have much advice, seeing as I don't have children yet, but I can tell you that as a kid, I had a wicked crazy imagination. Not to say I don't anymore, but whatever, not the point. When I was young, I was pretty convinced that my parents turned into snakes at night. Oh yes, snakes. We definitely laugh about it now, but it was very real at that point. I had (ahem...have) a teddy bear and he always made things better. I might also add that I never liked e as a kid and still don't. Does he have a night-light? Maybe that could help. Anyway, I hope it gets better for Peter and for you.
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