Any advice on dealing with a DC who is afraid of everything

A little background...my brother's GF's 5 yo DD discovered Goosebumps and is really into it. She also has a thing for all that is scary...monsters, zombies, etc. She loves to talk about those things. A few weeks ago, my brother watched my kids. Unbeknownst to them, while they thought the kids were playing games on the iPad, the DD was actually having DS watch Goosebumps with her.

Since that time, DS is afraid of EVERYTHING. I can't even go into the bathroom without him. He refuses to sleep in his bed. He's scared of the dark. All he talks about are monsters. DH and I have repeatedly told him its fake, its not real, we will keep you safe, etc. We have tried nightlights, the turtle projector light and the white noise machine. If he wakes up in the middle of the night, he freaks out, comes running into our room and makes us keep all the lights on. I can't leave him in a room by himself. He is constantly under my feet. He almost had like a nervous breakdown last week when I went downstairs to finish my nightly routine and left him upstairs with DH. I don't know what to do. It's exhausting honestly. My brother and his GF feel terrible and have dealt with it on their end but I can't find an effective way to deal with this aftermath.

Any advice? I will try anything at this point.

Any advice on dealing with a DC who is afraid of everything

Awww. DD who is also 5 watched a little bit of the new goosebumps movie and was scared too! Thankfully she fell asleep about 30 min into it, but it's all I heard about and occasionally continue to hear about (the snowman) from time to time. I again stress it was just a movie, it's fake, etc. I am not sure how else to help. The "scariest" movie she will watch now is ET, which she really likes.

Re: Any advice on dealing with a DC who is afraid of everything

I find that it helps if I show my DD pictures of the actors/actresses to reinforce its not real, just acting

Re: Any advice on dealing with a DC who is afraid of everything

Re: Any advice on dealing with a DC who is afraid of everything

Posted by Xelindrya

Posted by JandJ1224

I find that it helps if I show my DD pictures of the actors/actresses to reinforce its not real, just acting

This!

Poor kiddo tho

I prepped AJ when we saw it and she's 7. I literally told her the whole plot as I knew it. Knowing Jack Black is Kung Fu Panda helped. She said it still scared her but she knew it wasn't real. She was the one who told me "Yeah because if it was real, we'd have heard about that in the news"

Plus you can try the spray bottle trick to spray the monsters away (glitter and water I think it was)

*THIS* is why I'm such a freak about no actual movies in my daughter's room. Feel so bad

Re: Any advice on dealing with a DC who is afraid of everything

Posted by FirstMate

Posted by Xelindrya

Posted by JandJ1224

I find that it helps if I show my DD pictures of the actors/actresses to reinforce its not real, just acting

This!

Poor kiddo tho

I prepped AJ when we saw it and she's 7. I literally told her the whole plot as I knew it. Knowing Jack Black is Kung Fu Panda helped. She said it still scared her but she knew it wasn't real. She was the one who told me "Yeah because if it was real, we'd have heard about that in the news"

Plus you can try the spray bottle trick to spray the monsters away (glitter and water I think it was)

*THIS* is why I'm such a freak about no actual movies in my daughter's room. Feel so bad

Thanks ladies. Is Goosebumps a movie AND a show? I was thinking of showing him the actors also but I don't know what he saw. I'm also kind of afraid to bring it up! LOL

Re: Any advice on dealing with a DC who is afraid of everything

Can you tell him movies are just people wearing Halloween costume and they're acting? When they are done making the movie everyone takes off their makeup and costumes and goes home?

Maybe show him some behind the scenes of regular movies?

Re: Any advice on dealing with a DC who is afraid of everything

to him, no advice just hugs

Any advice on dealing with a DC who is afraid of everything

My mom had to make witch spray for my sister. Just water in a spray bottle, and we sprayed her room before bedtime every night.

Re: Any advice on dealing with a DC who is afraid of everything

Re: Any advice on dealing with a DC who is afraid of everything

DS (5) got scared after watching scooby doo.

We tried the it's fake routine, but it didn't work.

so then i started telling him how to fight the monsters. the vampire won't get you because he has to be invited in. ghosts can't touch humans because they're spirits, etc etc. We also came up with plans for traps (like in scooby doo)DS loves to draw so that was fun for him.

he's still scared sometimes, but then we remind him he knows how to get rid of the bad guys and he feels better.

it was the first time watching "supernatural" was useful IRL!