My son is almost 3 years old and 2 months ago he woke up screaming during the middle of the night. Since then he wont sleep unless the light is on. If he wakes up and his light is off he screams bloody murder. We put a night light in his room but this wasnt enough help to him. We tried putting his sister in his room with him thinking maybe he didnt want to be alone, but he still has to have the lights left on. Does anyone have any advice on this? I hate to keep having to leave the light on all night long. Also he wants the light on during the day even if there is pleanty of light in his room and no need for it.
2007-02-20 01:48:28 · 13 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Toddler & Preschooler
For those of you who keep saying to ask him what scares him, i would do that, but he has very minimal langauge skills right now and cant tell me what it is that makes him need the light on, we have tried the night light but did not work, his room is decorated in cars, i thought it was funny how one of you said that. His sister who is 1 sleeps in her own room with the light off and has no problem. I for one am not a mom who is willing to let my child stay in the bedroom with my husband and i. No offense to those who do, its just not how we were brought up and dont want to do that with our kids, they know our room is off limits unless we tell them to come in.
2007-02-20 07:56:56 · update #1
Along with some of the other good answers you got, maybe you could also make a big deal of going out to the store together and letting him pick out a special flashlight that he can keep in bed with him and turn it on whenever he wants. Also, maybe you could implement some kind of reward system for leaving the light off? It would start in pretty small amounts, like if he can leave the light off for one hour, he gets a spiderman sticker, and then when he gets 5 stickers, he gets to go to the park or do something he likes.
2007-02-20 02:28:59 · answer #1 · answered by gracemaddy 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If I knew the answer, I would certainly tell you..I have a 10 year old that has been sleeping with me, for way too many years now, because she don't like being by herself in her room at night...she is also scared of monsters!!...when she was a toddler,she would tell me she saw a purple scary monkey at night time, and ever since, she's always been afraid....I hate the fact she is in my bed, and hope it don't last too much longer, my god!!! I tell her, are you going to sleep with me until your 18?...we have tried everything under the sun to get her out!!! changing her theme in her room,buy her a fish tank, buy her a radio,bought her a tv!.....she has had a few nights in her room, throughout the years, but not enough.
2007-02-20 09:57:44 · answer #2 · answered by jan 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Just a quick thought- can he reach the light switch? My 2 and 1/2 year old also doesn't like to have the light off when she sleeps(again, nightlight wasn't enough), but we got around leaving the light on all night by having it on when we put her to bed, and then her father or I would turn it off when we came to bed. She can reach the light switch and turn the light on herself if she wants it on, and about 50% of the mornings it is on. But at least this way she knows she can turn it on and off and doesn't have to wake us up to have it turned on. She likes having the power over the light and we all do better this way.
2007-02-21 01:44:40 · answer #3 · answered by n2mama 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Try buying a lamp that project images on the wall,
as a child i was petrified of the dark and still am to some degree even now, or more of the unknown( dont know whats out there in the dark)anyway I have a son almost 3 and he still sleeps in my room, i bought all the"CARS" stuff for his room a little bed so he could get in and out,fully decked out his room hoping i could encourage him to sleep in it.. Well that lasted for 3 nights . he has a brother who is 1 who also sleeps in my room so im hoping they will share a room and be happy to stay in there.
You need to get to the bottom of this problem unless you want her in your room too, atleast you will be able to sleep
anyway good luck
2007-02-20 10:08:50 · answer #4 · answered by mel_leno 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I read something once about someone that had the same issue. They ended up taking a spray bottle and filling it with water (when the kid wasn't around, obviously.) Every night they'd spray the room with the "monster spray" and that made the kid comfortable enough to sleep without the light. Don't know if it will work for you, but it worked for them.
2007-02-20 09:57:22 · answer #5 · answered by Tish 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
He's fixated on having the light on - and you don't want him to get in the habit of sleeping in the bright light. So here's your compromise: Use a lightbulb with a very very low wattage, and keep his light on all night. If he insists on keeping it on all day, there's really little harm other than a few cents more in your electric bill. He will surely outgrow this harmless fixation soon, just like children outgrow other comfort measures such as thumb sucking and sleeping with a teddy bear.
2007-02-20 09:56:24 · answer #6 · answered by ♥Lucky♥ 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I got this tip from the show ' Supernanny '. Since kids are rather imaginative at that age, play along with him and ask him what are the things that he thinks will help to get rid of the imaginary monsters. Some examples could be using a special magic wand which he created to 'exorcise' his bedroom or a monster-zapping torch light.
2007-02-20 10:12:37 · answer #7 · answered by Tsarina 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
~he probably had a dream of some sort and it scared him because i used to be like that and the bad thing was i was in the 4th grade yeah like 10 years old lol! so what i did was i left my door open and i left the hallway light on. Maybe if his room has bathroom or is close to a bathroom then leave that light on so he can see it.~
*sweetie*
2007-02-20 09:58:48 · answer #8 · answered by *sweetie* 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My twin daughter was this way. She grew out of it.
The new baby cant stand for lights to be on she covers her eyes with her arm. Can you beleive she starting covering her ears at 4 days old. I guess we were too loud?
Try a small night light. I know its costly but it will help you get some sleep.
2007-02-20 10:28:24 · answer #9 · answered by dark_lipps 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
buy a small lamp with a low wattage bulb so it is just enough to illuminate the room but not effect the rest of the households sleeping habits, make a big deal about it so he feel extra special and extra safe, make up a story about how the lamp is magic and it has special powers when you turn it on at night..
2007-02-20 09:55:44 · answer #10 · answered by B-E-B 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋