Scared of Dark Suggestions??

Target has great lava lamps ($12.99) in many colors...they spread enough of a warm light and the shapes floating around in them make great soothers. 2 of my 3 children love having them in their room and still use them occasionally when they can't sleep.

I bought a virtual fish tank light at Walgreens for $10 ! (one of those ones that look like the fish are swimming across) I couldn't believe how cheap.. Its quite pretty and its a lot of light... but not too much.. Perfect lighting and soothing too (: I leave hers on all the time!

my kids love the glade light shows, or some of the night lights are pretty powerful. Try a little desk lamp with a very low wattage bulb!

My son is 2 1/2 and we use a flashlight before we go to bed each night to shine away the monsters (or whatever else he is afraid of that night). I then leave the flashlight in his bed with him so he feels secure, just in case he wakes up at night. Since she is comfortable with the nightlight, maybe turn that on before she goes to sleep, so that she falls asleep with that on. What helped for me was to remember that he is little, and when he wakes up at night, all those shadows can be scary. Hope this helps!

maybe put a really low watt bulb in it, 20 or 40 and put a very dark shade on it (you could easily make your own, just ask at JoAnn's). We leave the door open until she falls asleep and then shut it and jsut use the night light. She tried to get us to leave lights on and we had to take a firm hand and just say no. She sleeps fine with jsut the night light. First you need to determine if it is just a ploy or if she is really afraid. For mine it was the neighbor's dog and we had a discussion about the barking. You could also get a nightlight from Babies R Us that replaces the outlet cover and is adjustable. It actually get very bright if you turn it up all the way. Maybe you could try that first... then you can gradually turn it down without her knowing it.

I put a strand of christmas lights up around my childs window and it was worked wonderful. I love it also because I check on my kids several times a night and this helps me see everything. Hope it helps.

I put up some Christmas lights along the edges of the ceiling in both of my boys' rooms. They love it!

My brother would not sleep in his room because he didn't want to be alone in the dark. My mom got one of those fish tank looking lights. It gives him some white noise and he can watch the fish go around. The light is enough to illuminate the room so it isn't so dark.

My son, who is 2 is similar. We found that cracking the door at night and leaving the bathroom light or hallway light on helps. You can put a gate at the entryway if you want so she doesn't walk out in the middle of the night. But having the door open for you to hear her might be what she needs, and the light is there. Another option is to open the curtains or blinds to the window. Somtimes the moonlight or nearby streetlight is enough.

HTH

Santa brought each of my kids flashlights last year in their stockings(they were 8 and 4). At bedtime, they were allowed to read under the covers for a few minutes and then lights out. They were able to keep their flashlights with them in bed or next to them on the floor. The could even keep their flashlights on after lights out. My husband or I would go in their rooms a few minutes after they were asleep to turn them off. They had fun and it helped them sleep at night.

One of my triplets is afraid of the dark. I have a small table lamp that I bought at Aco and put a colored light bulb in it. Blue, pink, purple, black, orange, green. They are not as bright as a normal light bulb. They are a a couple bucks for one at Aco and Meijers but check out your local dollar stores. I think it is Dollar King that I found some at.

Hi Lisa,

I don't have a 2 year old who is afraid of the dark, but this is the kind of night light I use in my son's room. He's 15 months old now and he loves looking at it. Sometimes, if he wakes up in the middle of the night, he'll point to it and go "ooh!". I have a large one and a small one, both which were gifts, and I think they provide just the right amount of light.

Good luck!

M.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000LMKRS2?tag=mirinix-20&ca...;

My daughter has a lava lamp that she loves which soothes her too as she watches the bubbles to relax and go to sleep and we leave it on all night... :)

We let my 4 year old sleep with the lamp on. I don't know how he can sleep with so much light...but he does. I would just let her have it. YOu can buy mutted light bulbs.

However, we also did the following to get rid of the "witches": when we repainted his room- we used witch proof paint. We also took the witch be gone spray in there (you can use a water bottle or febreeze).

My daughter does the same. She wouldn't even sleep with a nightlight. She wanted her lamp and the hallway light on. I refused to have her lamp on but compromised on the hallway. We bought an energy saving bulb for that hallway and feel a little better with that. When this started we explained to her at bedtime that this was the plan, and there will be no other lights turned on or off throughout the night. That way if she woke up she knew nothing was going to change and that all doors for compromising were closed. Hope this helps. Good luck.

When my oldest was younger (he's nearly 7 now) we installed a dimmer switch in his room. we would turn it down to the lowest light and with a lava lamp (which added a cool glow) he was content. then we would switch off the dimmer switch before we went to bed. He was fine with the lava lamp if he woke up in the middle of the night because it seemed so bright at that time of night. Now the lava lamp is just a cool accessory in his room.

all three of my kids (8,5 & 3) have gone through the "I'm afraid of the dark times" what I still do with my kids is they have little flashlight, I pick them up at the dollar store most of the time, and they keep them beside their beds and can turn them on and off when ever they want-most nights they never touch them, but when they first got them they left them on all night a couple times, just buy extra batteries--Good luck

I've not tried this yet, but have it in my mental index file. Ask her why she is afraid or what she is afraid of. If she says monsters (Vampires/witches/whatever) Make and anti-monster shield. Use on old cereal box cut to shape and the let her decorate it. She can hang it over her bed or have it next to her bed. If you want say a prayer over it. (just like the knights of old) I like this idea because it gives her the power to 'make the monsters go away'.

Another thought is a small 'candle' lamp. (Usually the kind you find around Christmas.) The bulb is generally 4watts to a max of 15 watts. I know Joanns Fabric and craft stores carry these year round(they may also have small shades to put on them). This may be a good compromize to the large lamp.

If nothing else she WILL outgrow this, eventually.

My daughter just went through the same thing at Christmas time. We have always had a night light for her in her room but when her Grandma babysat, she turned on the lamp and she wanted it on for every night following. I did turn it on to put her to bed- because it was a cry match, and then turned it off after she fell asleep, but then she also started waking up in the middle of the night wanting it. She got a new Tinkerbell night light for Christmas, and sleeps with a Dora & a Duck stuffed animals, so I told her we weren't going to use the lamp anymore- if she woke up and was scared, her friends were there. Now Tinkerbell watches her fall asleep and is still on when she wakes up. Now when she wakes up in the middle of the night it's not because she's scared- now she has a cold and is coughing!!! Ugh! =o) FYI- It did take a week to break the habit, but I think it was worth it!

We recently went through this with our 3 year old. There is a fantastic night light out there now called a Tyke Light. They come in a number of different colors, and are rechargeable. They have 3 settings; low, high and high with a timer. They also last up to 10 hours a night. Our little guy won't sleep with out his "glow dude", and we love that it's portable.

Good luck!

We have a 2 1/2 year old that is currently afraid of the dark. He has a nightlight that is always on in his room and also sleeps with a flashlight that he can turn on himself. He says there are monsters in his room so I have told him that if he thinks there is a monster to just shine his flashlight at them and they go away. This seems to work. He also likes to fall asleep while "reading" books with his flashlight. Studies show that reading to dim light is not harmful to your eyes (it's an old wives tale) and reading in bed at night encourages children to become lifelong readers. So I guess you could say the flashlight is two-fold in it's benefits for us.

Good luck in finding what works for you!!

Tell your little one that Jesus is the Light of the World and He is shining all night and protecting her! She does not need to be afraid because He never sleeps and will watch over her day and night. Jesus loves the little children! He said in the book of Matthew in the Bible.."Allow the little children to come unto me, for such is the Kingdom of God."
This should help and please know that I have prayed for her.
Love in HIS Name,
V.

We have a 3 year old grandson that all of a sudden is afraid of the dark in his room. His mommy found this cute little light at Toys R Us that is rechargeable and he takes it into his bed with him and turns it on/off himself. Mobi Tykelight, 3 different colors, their price is $19.99.