When he was still in diapers but old enough to sleep in a normal bed we had a child lock on his door to keep him out of trouble. We took off the safety knob soon after he started using the potty (that was over a year ago). It didn’t happen immediately but slowly and moreso over the last few weeks he’s coming into our room at 10p, 12a, or even 3a. It’s usually stuff like a “monster in the closet”, “I’m out of water”, “I can’t find my stuffed animal”, or “my music box turned off”. Telling him things like “turn on your light and see what’s there”, “monsters don’t exist”, or “the bathroom is open and you can refill your cup” he’ll eventually have the same problem and wake us up again.
Is this just a phase he’ll grow out of or is there a better way to help him solve more of these problems on his own?
It’s a phase. Be calm and thoughtful about his fears (even if it’s horribly exhausting at times) and it will go over. That’s how he’ll learn ‘to solve these problems on his own’. He’s too young to get over his fears on his own and needs his parent’s input to learn that there’s nothing to fear in the dark.