How to handle 2 year old 'fears'?

My son had an irrational (to me) fear that crocodiles could come up the drain and bite him on the toilet or in the bath and we live in Britain, I bought him a plastic crocodile we called him Cyril and he sat in the bathroom ready to fight any uninvited crocodiles off. Other child was terrified of 'monsters' so we made a story together about a family of monsters who were frighten of us. Silly but they worked, I think you have to let her express her fear and help her work through it. Perhaps a toy hoover and washing her dolls in a bowl of water in the garden might help?