Things That Go Bump in the Night

Is your child having trouble sleeping? If your child is having trouble sleeping it can be because of several reasons. A lot of kids are scared of the dark and think all kinds of things are out there. So what can a parent do? Here are a few websites that have some ideas:


Scared of the Dark- Fear of the dark is a common problem for children. What can you do to ease their apprehension and help them go to sleep at night?

Helping Children Overcome Fears- Ideas and activities to help your child overcome fears.



Here are some books you can read to your children that might be of some help:


The Berenstain Bears: In the Dark by Stan and Jan Berenstain- After a scary bedtime story, Sister Bear is too frightened of the dark to shut her eyes. Sound psychological advice and a night light help Sister conquer her fears. Children will empathize with Sister Bear in this well-written story.

The Berenstain Bears: In the Dark with CD Rom- Review of book.

Got Monsters? Kids Scared Of The Dark? There’s No Need To Fear, Rollo The Nightspryte Is Here- Children’s book with plush toy.

Scared of the Dark (Sesame Street a Growing-Up Book) by Liza Alexander- After watching a scary movie, Ernie is afraid to go to sleep.

Frog is Frightened by Max Velthuijs- Frog and his friends, Duck and Pig, don’t believe in ghosts, until they all hear frightening noises in the dead of night. They huddle together for comfort in Pig’s bed. In the morning, it is Hare who gets a real fright when he finds Frog’s house empty and gets no answer at Pig’s. That’s because the three friends are now fast asleep!

Ten-in-the-Bed by Penny Dale- With ten in the bed, it's a bit of a squeeze! Roll over, roll over! But the little one gets cold all alone, and soon all ten are snuggled up and fast asleep. Children like listening to this famous rhyme and shouting out the crash, thud and bump noises as the toys fall out of bed on the accompanying CD read by actor Martin Jarvis.

Can't you sleep, Little Bear? by Martin Waddell- Why is bedtime so frightening? "I don't like the dark!" Little Bear tells Big Bear, who goes to great extents to comfort his charge. Finally, Big Bear makes Little Bear face the dark head on, and this duo finds that there's nothing to fear--as long as they have each other.

Oh, Bother! Someone's Afraid Of the Dark by Betty Birney- "Oh, Bother!" picture books make up a special Pooh series that addresses and happily resolves simple childhood problems. In this title, Pooh spends the night at Piglet's house and discovers his small friend is afraid of the dark. It takes all the patience and understanding that Pooh and his friends can muster to convince poor Piglet that he is safe. By story's end, however, Piglet finally understands that there really are no Heffalumps under his bed and that night can even be bright and beautiful.

Where’s God When I’m S-Scared? VeggieTales board book- Kids will love this bedtime board book. We are encouraged to remember that God is bigger than the boogie man! Just like Junior, kids will realize they don't have to be scared, because God is with them at all times.

Little Kiwi is Scared of the Dark by Bob Darroch- It's night and Little Kiwi is out for his first walk with mum. The only problem is that the night is full of scary noises and he's terrified of the dark. Little Kiwi decides that there must be a nicer time to go for a walk but what happens when he decides to venture out during the day?

The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark by Jill Tomlinson- Plop, the Baby Barn Owl, is like every Barn Owl there ever was, except for one thing - he is afraid of the dark. "Dark is nasty" he says and so he won't go hunting with his parents. Mrs Barn Owl sends him down from his nest-hole to ask about the dark and he meets a little boy waiting for the fireworks to begin, an old lady, a scout out camping, a girl who tells him about Father Christmas, a man with a telescope and a black cat who takes him exploring. He realizes that through these encounters that dark is super after all.

The Knight Who Was Afraid of the Dark by Barbara Shook Hazen- Sir Fred is one knight unlucky enough to have been born in the Dark Ages. This is because even though he is a "bold and much loved" man, he has a secret: he is "knee-bumping, heart-thumping afraid of the dark." Sir Fred bravely takes the fearsome spiders out of the castle bathtub in the daytime. But at night, he sleeps with a bottle of fireflies, several bright candles, and a pet electric eel close by his bed. When the lovely Lady Wendylyn requests his company by the fountain at midnight, Sir Fred agonizes about going out in the dark. Yet he gallantly sets off into the night with his eel wrapped around his arm and a fistful of fireflies, too. The surprising and funny ending helps Sir Fred realize that the dark is not so scary when you're with someone.

Scary Night Visitors: A Story for Children with Bedtime Fears by Irene Wineman Marcus and Paul Marcus- Many children have bedtime fears, starting as young as two years old and sometimes lasting several years. “Scary Night Visitors” helps parents explain the origins of these fears to their children. Instead of describing monsters as clothes on a chair or ghosts as wind in the trees, this lively story presents them as projections of a child's own anger and jealousy. Davey—and through him the reader—learns that thoughts and wishes are not as powerful as he fears, so he can feel safe enough to let himself experience his emotions directly without imagining scary creatures. Parents and mental health professionals will find this book an engaging tool for ameliorating this common but troubling childhood problem.

Jessica and the Wolf: A Story For Children Who Have Bad Dreams by Ted Lobby- Every night, Jessica dreams of a sleek black wolf who chases her through a dark forest. She's afraid to go to sleep because of these bad dreams. After consulting her parents, her teddy bear, and her own personal "magic," Jessica learns to overcome her fears and chase the wolf away, once and for all. This spirited adventure, gorgeously illustrated by Tennessee Dixon's powerful, striking images, will teach children to confront their nighttime fears and face down their own private wolves.

What to Do When You Dread Your Bed: A Kid's Guide to Overcoming Problems with Sleep by Dawn Huebner- This book guides children and their parents through the cognitive-behavioral techniques used to treat problems with sleep. Fears, busy brains, restless bodies, and overdependence on parents are all tackled as children gain the skills they need for more peaceful nights. This interactive self-help book is the complete resource for educating, motivating, and empowering children to fall asleep and stay asleep—like magic!

Sometimes I'm Scared by Jane Annunziata- Kids can be afraid of lots of things It's normal. But these fears can seem really big! Well, have no fear; Sometimes I'm Scared is here. This book outlines easy steps kids can use to overcome their everyday fears. An extensive Note to Parents in the book gives parents additional information on why fears naturally develop and how to help their kids understand and deal with common fears.

Monsters Get Scared of the Dark, Too by Random House Disney- The monsters are back and in their own storybook series When Mike and Sulley monster-sit Mike's nephew, they discover that he is afraid of the dark. Can the two friends come up with a plan to help the little monster get over his fear and get to sleep? Find out in this 16-page book complete with a full sheet of stickers.

Boogeyman In the Basement! by Kathleen Duey- In a story designed to teach children to overcome their fears, Josh hears a noise in his basement and goes to investigate, convinced there is a boogeyman calling out to him.

Stay Out Of the Graveyard! by Kathleen Duey- In a story designed to teach children to overcome their fears, Sam's friends dare him to walk through the town graveyard alone at night.

The "Alone in the Dark" books (the two books above) are special learning tools for small children. These books give kids a chance to enjoy the kind of giggling chills and thrills they love—while they learn very important lessons. Fun to read aloud and full of the amazing power of imagination, every Alone in the Dark title reinforces children's abilities to deal with their fears. Every ending is happy, funny and shows kids that being Alone in the Dark can be fun.



DVD’s

Monster’s Inc- Intelligent, funny, adorable, and beautifully animated, MONSTERS, INC. will delight fans of SHREK and TOY STORY, while drawing a new audience of curious, kid-friendly viewers. Billy Crystal and John Goodman make a fiercely funny comedic team as job partners and best friends, Mike (Crystal)--a little green guy with one huge eyeball, and Sulley (Goodman)--a big purple and blue fuzzy guy with dinosaur spikes down his back. Mike and Sully work at MONSTERS, INC., a gigantic corporation that captures the screams of little children and turns them into energy. To make the children scream, the monsters must enter each child's bedroom through the closet door, then deliver a frightening affront. The only problem is, kids aren't scared anymore. And because of this problem, Monsters, Inc. is in a jam. But when one little girl, Boo (Mary Gibbs), follows Sully through her closet door and into the factory, she brings an even more dire issue to the fore: the monsters are actually terrified of children. From Pixar Animation Studios, MONSTERS, INC. is an exciting adventure with a sweet, happy ending.

Where’s God When I’m S-Scared? VeggieTales- Tales from the Crisper: What happens when 5-year-old Junior Asparagus watches a movie that's a little too scary for him? Bob and Larry teach Junior that God is bigger than anything he might be afraid of.

It's a Big, Big World - Time for Bed- A sloth named Snook tackles many adventures with the help of his cheery friends, also from the animal planet. The program sends the message that being scared sometimes is natural, okay, and not something one needs to hide.