MUMS AND DADS HAPPY TO BEND THE TOOTH WHEN KIDS PLAY UP

UnBoolievable parenting tricks

- MEG JORSH

But the gnasher-loving sprites aren't the only creatures parents have invented to help make their jobs a bit easier. Some of them are quite a bit scarier, as MEG JORSH discovers...

BED SHOCKERS

IN Brazilian mythology, the Cuca is a hideous crocodile woman who kidnaps and eats kids when they refuse to go to sleep.

Often depicted with long, blonde hair, Cuca, below, features in traditional lullaby Nana Nené. The lyrics warn: “Sleep, little one. The Cuca’s going to get you.”

According to legend, she only kips once every seven years herself - so anyone out of bed at night is at risk of being snatched. She lives in a cave and boasts a scream so loud it can be heard 10 leagues (50km) away.

The Canadian version is Bonhomme Sept-Heures, a shadowy beast who shows up at 7pm to snatch any bed-dodging youngsters.

SAD SACK

IN Spain and Latin America, El Hombre del Saco is a skinny old man who walks around with a sack on his back. When he sees a child misbehaving, he stuffs them inside it and carries them away.