Tips for child that is afraid of the dark

krystal61705

My DD is suddenly afraid at bedtime.  I can tell that she is really scared.  We have a night light in her room, a handheld night light and a flashlight in her bed with her.  Last night she asked if we could keep her light on.  I have no problem with doing that, but the lamp gets soooo hot!  We ended up leaving the hallway light on and she still came in our room very early.  Any pointers?  TIA

2Gma

Poor girl, I remember being afraid of the dark as a child.  Sounds like you are doing good with night lights.  Perhaps getting one of those projection night lights that show stars or other comforting figures on the ceiling or walls for her to look at while she falls alseep.  Getting a book about being afraid of the dark (Berenstain bears, etc.) and limit any scary shows that may be contributing to her fears.  And of course, just talking about what scares her and reassuring that you are there.

flyingsaucer

We got a humidifier that projects images on the ceiling and lights up. Kids love it

mavs_girl07

Ditto pp.  If you've given her that many light-up things and she's still scared, I would just switch to a low wattage bulb and leave the light on.  I was terrified of the dark when I was younger and I remember my parents used to leave my bedroom light on for me all night long.  They were afraid it would keep me awake, but in fact it helped me sleep.

Brewtowngrl

We use the hall light, a light he can hold and the projector.  My sister put her DD's over head light on a dimmer switch.  That is easy and cheap to do.  

krystal61705

Thank you all so much for the wonderful tips!