If I might add something of my childhood experiences...frightened children...
My five year old is frightened to go to the bathroom alone,
Why?
Because she believes there is a snake hiding in the wood grain pattern on the cedar walls.
truster....
How would you handle this situation, if that child were yours?
David.
I also was afraid to go to the bathroom when I was little because I thought that some creature was hiding inside the toilet ready to attack me. I also kept seeing dark shadows at the brink of my eyes quickly flying away every now and then. I also used to keep my eyes open during night and observe objects in my room, often slightly frightened, until they appeared like they where moving or morphing into faces. One night I suddenly, in a half dreamlike state, heard strange voices around me and I got the feeling that I'm lying on a table surrounded by aliens, I strongly tried to keep my eyes shut because I was so terrified, then I woked up in fear and was glad to see the normal world around me again. Later I experienced other dreamlike events when I was half asleep. I was lying on my bed, paralyzed, and noticed a creature lurking around me, then it jumped onto me and attacked me furiously, it looked like a wolf or something. I managed to finally break the paralysis and realized that nothing happened.
Nevertheless, what I found really helpful during this times of fear was that my mother always accompanied and escorted me, assuring to me that I can't get hurt, until my fears faded away. Since then I thankfully no longer experienced such obscure events.