How did you help your children when they were afraid of the dark? I have other children so I can't lay with them every night until they fall asleep. We tried leaving the bedroom light on, but that was too bright. The hall light casted shadows on the walls. When asked what they are afraid of it is simply the dark. Not monsters, not robbers, just the plain ol' dark.
We are up to 3 night lights and they still want more. Any ideas would be great!
TIA
We leave his closet light on. That way we can adjust the amount of light in the room by opening the door wider or closing it most of the way.
We have the Twilight Turtle that projects stars onto the ceiling. You can choose green, blue, or amber light and it's not too bright. LOVE IT! It really helps LO, too - we take it w/us when we travel, too, so he has something familiar and it helps him be less scared.
http://www.amazon.com/Cloud-Twilight-Constellation-Night-...
Maybe give him/her a flashlight so they can flash at whatever is scaring them
I've known some kids who benefited from more control, in the form of a small flashlight. When a particular area of darkness seems threatening, they can aim the flashlight, turn it on, and banish the "nothing."
Warn that overuse of flashlights will wear down the batteries, and you want the current batteries to last a long, long time.
Too much light at night does limit the amount of melatonin (natural sleep hormone) produced in the pineal gland, and can reduce the amount or quality of sleep. Light in the blue or green range is the worst, warm or red light is less problematic.
We have a small lamp, brighter than a nightlight, but not as bright as the room light, that we can leave on. (We turn it off before we go to bed, after he is asleep, and rarely have issues with night waking, but haven't always been able to do that).
I'm struggling with my son being scared of the dark. He won't even walk by a dark room it the hall. I was losing my patience the other day and he wouldn't go to the bathroom b/c he was scared. I told him that he was being silly and he needed to get over it. He replied, "Well, you're scared of snakes" Had to appreciate him putting me in check. I would never hold a snake even if I knew it wouldn't hurt me!!! Good luck w/your little one and I might use some of these ideas you have gotten for us!!! :-)
What about trying those glow in the dark stars on the ceiling :-) OR Bass Pro Shops had a "full moon" to put in a bedroom that was controlled by a remote control! I thought it was Awesome and it was like $30..... check it out.
Good luck...
I like the flashlight idea, but my other thought is to put your overhead light on a dimming switch. This way it could still be on, but you could dim it to a level that is more "sleep appropriate". Good luck!
