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My son has recently become afraid of the dark. He is 3 and I am not sure if he really is scared or if he is using that as an excuse to not to have to go to bed, or to be able to sleep on the couch. He has been sleeping on the couch for about 2 weeks now, and I am not sure how to get him to sleep in his room. I to am very afraid of the dark and always have to have a light on. I try not to express it in front of him, because I didn't want him to do it just because mom did it. Even when we left a light on for him, he didn't like it. What do you think? Any suggestions to get him back into his bed?”

Asked by D'SMommy1329 on 18th April 2009  |  3 replies

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3 replies so far...

  • I to thought it was a way for him to get to stay up longer. But then he started saying it in the car, and outside anywhere it was dark. If I am driving at night, I have to leave one of the overhead lights on for him, I am going to try the night light and we will see how that goes. Probably even le thim pick out his own.......I hope it works, at 21 and still deathly afraid of the dark I don't want him to be like that.

    Flag as inappropriate Posted by D'SMommy1329 on 29th April 2009

  • My daughter did the same thing at 3. How strange! She has a nightlight she can control, turning it on and off, so that she has some responsibility surrounding this fear. It sprang up so quickly that I was unsure if she was really afraid or just wanted some light to read by. Either way, the night light keeps her content.

    I hope you are able to get him back in bed soon w/out too much trauma! Amazing how they latch onto a certain way of doing things...!

    Flag as inappropriate Posted by Mandy Nelson - Dandysound on 27th April 2009

  • My daughter started to have this fear of the dark around the time she was 3. We put a small night light in her room and it seemed to make things better. Was the light you left on a bit too bright perhaps?

    Flag as inappropriate Posted by Nataly on 22nd April 2009

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