We've had a long list of sleep issues with my oldest son, now 4.5. He's never been a good sleeper.
After finally going to a sleep consultant, we got him on the right track and he was sleeping through the night. FINALLY!
...and then we went to Disney, which required us to share a bed with the kids. And we're now back to square one.
His latest issue is that he's afraid of the dark and doesn't want to sleep alone. We're 100% against taking him into our bed at home. We never have, never will. But this fight is getting really tiring. We've tried night lights...it's too bright...and then 15 minutes later, it's not bright enough. We've left the door open a crack...but then he won't stay in bed. I've left the hallway light on for awhile - that he can see through the air vents in his room. That works...until we all go to sleep. Needless to say I don't want to leave the bright hallway light on overnight.
Anyone have any creative ideas of how to deal with being afraid of the dark? I'm looking for stories, or new things to make him "not afraid"...
I believe this will rectify itself eventually, and that it's just because of our trip (3 weeks ago). But in the meantime, being up 3 times a night because he's scared really sucks.
Thanks mamas!
My girls almost always take flashlights to bed, or glow sticks. A pack of 50 glowsticks isn't that expensive, and the kids love them.
Get him a flash light? He can put it on when he is scared?
We have a homedics music box that project a design on the ceiling. you can set the timer or leave it on all night. bright enough to see him.
larger stuffed animal that is his night/dark protector. he can have it with him and it will feel like he has somone in bed with him.
weighted blanket that has dark protection.
It might depend on why he is afraid of the dark.. monsters? the animal, blanket can protect agianst them. etc.
My dad and his friend took the monsters away in the trunk of the car and put them in the garbage can.. it worked for my little guy.
Good luck.
I'd second leaving the hallway light on. We leave a light on in the kitchen (our rooms are off that) so if one of our kids does wake up in the middle of the night they are not freaked out by the pitch black. There are some nights when they are up a lot that we leave the hall bathroom light on. It is not directly shining in their room but enough that it's bright. They also sleep with an LED candle in their room as a night light. Have you looked into getting a Dream Lite? They will stay on for 15 minutes and then go off. That might be a good option.
My daughter has had similar issues, and we do the same when we go on vacation (she sleeps with me and my son sleeps with my husband) but she generally readjusts well. My kids sleep upstairs and my husband and I sleep downstairs in our new house, and I am a bit paranoid about someone falling down the stairs in the dark, so I leave a light on in the bathroom at the top of the stairs. I also leave the doors to their bedrooms open, so they get some light in their rooms.
I saw someone else posted about flashlights and glo sticks. Both of my kids have a couple of flashlights that they are allowed to take to bed if they "need" to. They know that they are supposed to turn them off when they are done, but I also go up every night to check on them before I go to bed and I make sure I turn them off if one gets left on. My daughter is now 6 and she barely ever uses the flashlights anymore.
Good luck.
We had a "nightlight" on our water dispenser on the refrigerator in our old house (where we lived when the kids were little). That was the only "nightlight" they got. And they were fine with not having anything in their rooms. So maybe put a nighlight in the hallway, instead of his room?
I like the idea also of giving him a flashlight. They sell some cheap plastic ones now that have different settings. They not only can be a flashlight that directs a beam of light, but light up the entire body of the flashlight into a glow-stick, or you can set them to flash. We gave our kids these to take to summer camp with them. Cheap, easy, and cute/fun.
My daughter is now 11, and we gave her an ipod/dock/radio thing for Christmas 2 years ago. The machine has a colored light that you can set to glow for an hour (has a sleep timer) while you listen to music to fall asleep by. It glows a soft blue, or green, or red, or amber... whichever color you like.
My 4 y/o doesn't like the dark either. He got a Dream Lights for Christmas and it has made a huge difference.
Walmart has these cool nightlights that project pictures on the ceiling. My son just got one that displays the solar system. They are in the light bulb section.
My son used to have Bob the Builder Christmas lights draped on the mirror above his dresser. He took them down when he turned 10y.
For leaving the door open, we used to put a baby gate across the door.
You could also try getting him one of those light up pillows that stay on for 20 mins.
http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/1/3/light-up-pillow-on-tv
Or a pillow pet dreamlite.
http://www.toysrus.com/family/index.jsp?categoryId=13083667
We still leave a hallway light on! I hate the dark. My youngest hated the dark.
When we replaced the ceiling fans in the bedrooms (it's Texas), we got a remote that went with it. He could just turn the light dimmer or brighter at will, from 2 percent to 100 percent and off and on. They now sell kits to do that with any ceiling fan so I am sure you could do it with a ceiling light. Power over light is ...empowering!
Developmentally, kids get general "fears" and of night time and the dark and night time noises etc.
It is normal.
Some even start from 2 years old.
And at this age, developmentally, they also get nightmares etc.
Their cognition and imaginations... are simply, changing. Normal.
When I was a kid that age and older, I was afraid of the dark too.
It is, childhood.
Developmental changes.
It is a phase.
My kids too. And they are 6 and 10 years old.
Adult reasoning, is not the same as a young child's mind and imagination and cognition. So what is silly to us, is not to them.
ALSO... at this age, and even older, they do not "know" the difference between fiction and non-fiction. Again, it is developmental based.
He doesn't have to be IN your bed. But perhaps, have a spot for him on the floor of your room. That is what we did with our kids. And it worked out. They knew, that if they got scared etc., we didn't make it a "battle." So then, they knew, they could come and sleep on the floor of our room. They did not wake us, and it was fine. No battles.
When I was a kid.... afraid of the dark and of being in my room at night... I would, creep down our long dark scary hallway, just to be near my parents. My parents, knew it was a phase and they let me crawl into bed with them. They got sleep. I got sleep. It was not forever. I was just a young child then. BUT, it is one of the fondest memories I have of my parents. My older sibling, would make fun of me for that. But so what. She was not as close to my parents as I was, and she was a cold fish.
My parents, knew that.
Again being afraid of the dark and having general "fears" as a child, is childhood. And developmental based. Normal stuff.
We cannot turn "off" a kids imagination or cognition.
Or, give your kid a flashlight, to keep IN bed WITH him.
That is what we do, too.
And so what, if that flashlight is on all night and they forget to turn it off. It is just a flashlight with a battery in it. No biggie.
This is but one drop in the bucket, per childhood phases and developmental things. Normal.
Do you have an Ikea near? They have these rechargeable lights that can be carried into bed called "Spoka". Both my kids have one which we call "Glow Cat", and it solved the fear of the dark issue. They are pretty durable. I haven't had one of them stop working yet.
This is developmentally appropriate. At 4.5 my daughter got scare of the dark. It took a few weeks, but we worked out a system. We tried lots of different night lights, and the hall light remains on. She also has a whistle to chase away monsters.
My son has a giant dinosaur that eats monsters. And he takes a light and does a monster check before bed every night.
