2 YEAR OLD SCARED WHEN GOING TO BED AT NIGHT- HELP PLEASE!

[Macey&Finlay'sMummy]

Macey has just turned 2 today. We moved her from a cot-bed to a bed back in September as she was attempting to climb out of the cot so thought it safer to just move her. She took to her little bed fine and we have had no problems with her there. We have been decorating a new bedroom for her with a new full size single bed and when we returned from holiday last week we decided to put her straight into her new bedroom and not go back in the nursery which she seemed to LOVE! For the last few months while we have been gradually buying all the furniture etc Macey has spent lots of time in the room so she is very familiar with it. The first 2 nights in her new room she slept like a dream, better than she has EVER slept. Then the other night while she was asleep there were loud fireworks outside which woke her and also a low flying jet from the nearby airbase- she was PETRIFIED and it took hours to settle her. Now every night she starts whining and making fireworks noises and saying "plane" over and over again while I am getting her ready for bed. I assure her that the plane and fireworks are all gone but she is just so scared every little noise in the house while she is dropping off wakes her and makes her cry- even the wind now! She has been seeing a lot of Santa on telly over the last few weeks and has been obsessed with him (she has watched Polar Express sooo many times and loved to see Santa) however we were at a toddler group party yesterday and there was a Santa there and she was really really scared- so that is another thing she now says to me before bedtime and I have to assure her that Santa has gone home! We have been sitting with her till she drops off but she is waking several times in the night too and we have to do the same. I am just worried that we are creating a prop for ourselves...any ideas of the best way to tackle this situation

Many Thanks

Lisa x

[~Angie~]

Hi,
My DS is three, but going through the same thing. One thing that helps us is to leave his door open and the lamp on. Not a night light, but a brighter lamp. We also have a sound machine that helps to drown out any noises. When we go to bed, we turn the lamp off and pull his door closed. Another thing, I always tell him I"ll be right back to check on him. He'll get upset when I leave and I'll say, "Oh, but I'll be right back. It's OK." Then, about 1 or 2 minutes later. I peek into his room. This seems to be helping him.

Good luck and I hope you find something that works soon. 

[Florencia]

Hi Lisa! Seems that Macey's one sensitive little toddler. I must tell you that it sounded cute to me how receptive she is. Not that is funny to be woken in the middle of the night. It's just that I love the toddler mind and how they have sucha  good memory. We could use that memory ourselves, couldn't we?

I think you'd find great success by using Gradual Withdrawal while this fear spurt lasts. You can find it described under the FAQ section of this board in the thread called Teaching Independent Sleep. You can keep doing what you're already doing (telling her it's ok and talking to her about it) but when she goes down, you go to sleep in her room, that way, when she wakes at night she'll see you right next to her and hopefully will go to sleep better. Since it's just a phase, I'm sure she'll get over it quickly and you'll be able to move yourself out of the room within a 2 weeks period.

Another thing that might help is buying a "rescue fairy" or something like that. You buy a night light with an angel, fairy, whatever she likes and tell her she's the one that's gonna take her during the night. The angel/fairy/whatever will not allow loud noises and has the power to shut them up kwim? If she's still afraid of Santa, buy her a stuffed one and have him around the house to hold/snuggle. Take yourself a pic with a large Santa and show her how good he is and that you're not afraid of him. She will eventually recover her confidence after repetition.

HTH and keep us posted. Congratulations on your pregnancy!