Lead
At night, a child suddenly announces that a monster is coming, and comes out of the bedroom. Saying "there's nothing there" doesn't help. The bathroom can't be reached alone. The shadow of the closet door, the darkening of the hall in the early evening — these become obstacles.
Between ages three and five, the home seems to fill with invisible threats. Rooms that were fine before, levels of darkness that used to be unremarkable, become frightening. From a parent's perspective, these are seasons of puzzlement: when did this start? How far should we go along with it? Has something changed?
This article draws on peer-reviewed research to explain why the fears typical of ages three to five are better understood as a stage of cognitive development than as timidity, temperament deficit, or a sign that something has gone wrong. The aim is a map for living alongside these fears without dismissing them, amplifying them, or letting them take over the household routine.