Monster Bed, The

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Night time triggers a lot of fears in children (and adults, for that matter). I think, as humans, we are troubled and startled by the dark because we cannot see well. The more primitive part of our brain, the limbic system, is focused upon looking out for signs of trouble, and I believe that it is on hyper-alert when it is dark and vision is poor. When the limbic system is in this hyper-alert phase, we are prone to perceive threats in instances where none exists.’ Discuss with your child what the monster looks like. Maybe even ask them to draw it. And the second step here will be to reduce the exposure to the content that may trigger the fear. For little kids, even a pokemon may turn into a horrible monster. 3. Teach a child a coping strategy. He took his clothes off into his pajamas and then decided to go to sleep. [7] With the absence of the boy's mother and his fear of monsters underneath the bed, he decided the only way to see if there were monsters was to look under the bed himself. [8] When he gazed under the bed, he saw Dennis. Both Dennis and the boy had the same reaction; they were afraid of each other. [9] Thus, the boy ran out of the cave and Dennis ran to his mother. It is unknown what happened to the boy after the small incident. [17] Other characters [ edit ] We’ve practised it for a couple of nights, and it helped Max believe that he is in control. When he slept through the night for the first time, I praised him: The Monster Bed is a children's book written by Jeanne Willis and illustrated by Susan Varley. The book originally went to press in 1986.

The book then changes setting into inside the forest, where we see a small monster named Dennis and his mother, [3] showing that Dennis was very polite for a young monster. It describes Dennis's fear of humans, which leads to the next part of the book. [4] Dennis's fear of children [ edit ] Dennis's mother gives Dennis his teddy bear and leaves the lights on for Dennis. The story tells a tale of a little monster who is scared to go to bed. His poor mum has trouble getting him to go to sleep because the little monster believes that humans live under his bed and they will get him in the night. One night the monster decides to sleep under his bed “for if I am there and a human comes near, it won’t think to look for me, safe under here”. That night a boy becomes lost and finds himself in the monsters cave, he spots the bare mattress and tiredly lies down. The boy mum’s is not there to kiss him good night or look for monsters under the bed so the boy has to do it him. The boy gets down on his knees and... found one! The introduction starts the book in the setting of a small picnic of a human and his dog. The human is apparently telling the reader to not venture into the Withering Wood, a forest of trees rumored to have legendary creatures such as hairy trolls, nasty gnomes, and scary pixies and fairies. [2] Dennis the monster is frightened of humans. Can you write a new story about something or somebody that is frightened of something unusual (e.g. an elephant that is scared of a mouse, a spider that is scared of flies)?At the same time, as children grow and begin to understand abstract concepts, their fears become complex as well. They may get scared of what they see in the night or what lurks in their imagination. And since it is still hard for younger children to distinguish real facts from fantasy, their nightmares may feel terrifyingly real. Imagine that a monster was a real animal and write a report about it, describing its habitat, diet, adaptations etc. (see Resources below). Little Dennis is a polite monster who lives with his mum inside a gloomy and glum cave. The only thing is that he is scared of bedtime. His mum asks him why he is frightened, he shows concern that the humans will get him. His mum explains that humans only exist within stories. As we said earlier, the monster under the bed (and particularly the bogeyman) has become a part of popular culture, frequently appearing in literature, film and TV. Fungus the Bogeyman is a well-known children’s book, while the Harry Potter series also has its own version in the form of the shapeshifting Boggart.

While the mysterious monster may still stay under the bed, your child can learn how to cope with his fear. Here are a few ideas: Praise the child every time he practices his coping skills and makes progress in overcoming the fear! For example: “I’ve noticed that you used the magic spell and turned your monster into a bunny last time. And look – you stayed in bed for the whole night! That was very brave! You see, you are bigger, stronger and braver than your monster!”While monsters may not be real, the feelings are. Don’t laugh, and don’t try to convince them that there is no monster under their bed, nor in the entire world. My son had an excellent point – it’s there, but it’s invisible! Hard to argue 🙂 2. Look for triggers. Finally, teach your children the art and skill of relaxation. When a child is relaxed, their limbic system calms down, and they are less vulnerable to the stress of fear. In addition, they begin to associate bedtime with relaxation rather than worry. There are wonderful relaxation scripts, books and audio CDs that you can use on a regular basis. The Sleep Matters Podcast