My middle son, Lou, has always been so good about going to bed at night. That is, until now. All of a sudden he is scared to be in his bedroom during the night.

Lou is three and has started hearing "noises" in his room. He has also requested a second night light. He wants to sleep in my room and has started throwing a fit each night to do so. I am fairly firm about going to bed so I usually get him settled in after reminding him that he is safe. However, he has also started waking up in the middle of the night crying and I am less firm when I am half asleep. At that point, I usually give in and let him come in with us.

I wonder what has brought on this new fear for him? Why has he suddenly become fearful at night? Well, it seems to be typical for this age. http://www.kidsgrowth.com has an article entitled Mom – There’s a Monster in the Closet! It makes me feel a little better knowing that Lou is just going through something that is normal for his age:

"Around the age of three or four, many children begin to experience certain fears when they go to bed. Their imagination can invoke monsters or ghost images in the closet, under the bed, or somewhere in their bedroom. They may experience bad dreams that seem very real to them. Children this age are able to imagine scary situations because they begin to think about possibilities of harmful things happening to them."

I really hope this difficult bedtime phase ends soon. Last night Lou threw such a fit that he woke up his sleeping baby brother. That was the last thing I needed was to have two of them crying that late in the evening. I am like most mothers and value a little bit of time after the kids go to bed. I am very tired at that point in the day and want to unwind and relax!

Does anyone have some great suggestions for me? I know this is just a phase but if you have any ideas that might have worked for you, I would love to hear them.