Helping Your Child Overcome Their Fear of the Dark

Some preschool aged children and up are afraid of the dark. Darkness, to a child, is filled with monsters, the boogeyman, ghosts, and other things that go bump in the night. Often times our childrens' nighttime fears are a product of the things we as parents expose our children to. Usually we are not aware that our children can grasp the concept of what we are watching on television, but, kids have the uncanny ability to retain scary images they see on TV. In fact, my youngest had a fear of the toe fungus monsters from television!

Between our childrens' vivid imaginations and television, kids have many things to fear from the dark. Kids that are afraid of the dark look to us as parents to calm their fears. New parents may find it hard to combat those bumps in the night and can even feel inadequate to harness their child's fears. Some parents would rather just have their child sleep in their bed than to try to rationalize with an irrational child. But, letting your kids sleep in your bed will lead to greater problems down the road.

Here are some of the best 'short term' solutions to kids that are afraid of the dark. Some of these techniques will work for your child that is afraid of the dark, not all of them will work. You have to find the ones that will be appropriate for your child that is afraid of the dark. If none of these specific methods work to cure your child of being afraid of the dark, maybe they will at least give you some ideas on what to try. You may be able to build upon or reduce some of the steps to help your child stop being afraid of the dark, being afraid of monsters, or afraid of the boogey man.

Nightlights and Flashlights for Kids Who Are Afraid of the Dark

The common sense response is to put a nightlight in your child's room. A nightlight will cast enough light in your child's room to possibly aide them in not being afraid of the dark or monsters. But, sometimes a nightlight will not be enough, in fact, many nightlights only add to the fear of the dark because they actually cause some odd shadows to appear in the child's room. You could give your child a flashlight in addition to the nightlight. This can help your child distinguish what the shadows are being made of. Be careful though, flashlights may end up as being more or a toy than a combatant for the bumps in the night. Be prepared to spend a lot of money buying replacement batteries for your child's flashlight.

Monster Spray to Ward off Monsters

I once heard of a mother who gave her child "monster spray" to help her son not be afraid of monsters in his room. This is best used for children who have a wild imagination. Simply fill a spray bottle with water. Before bed spray the water around your child's bed, closet, windows, and door to ward off any monsters. A misting bottle will be best so the floor isn't soaked. When my oldest had a great fear of monsters I used air freshener or Febreeze to ward off evil monsters in her room. Her room smelled good and didn't have monsters in it either!

Where the Monsters Hide

Something many of us parents may not think to do is to ask our children where they think the monsters are hiding in their room. If you can find the source of the monsters you may be able to get rid of them in your child's eyes. If your child is certain she has monsters in her closet, you may consider clearing out her closet and putting a light in there. For whatever reason, most all children believe that monsters cannot survive in light. You can't keep the light on in your child's room all night long, but you can possibly place small nightlights wherever the monsters may be lurking.

Teddy Bear Patrol

Another method to help your child get over their fear of the dark or to at least get them through this phase in their life is to recruit one of their stuffed animals to keep guard at night. Her favorite teddy bear may be able to stand guard all night to ward off bad guys from creeping into her room. Have a conversation with the stuffed animal in front of your child. You and the bear should discuss where the monsters, boogeyman, or ghosts are hiding and what the bear should do if he sees them come into your child's room. I am sure you are aware that stuffed animals only whisper in your ear, so, be sure that the stuffed animal is whispering his answers into your ear. Since your child can't hear what the stuffed animal is saying, be sure to repeat what he tells you as he says it.

Why Monsters Have Bad Breath

Something my mom did for me when I was little was to tell me that monsters have bad breath. As a child this seemed plausible, and she said the reason they had such bad breath was because they hated the smell of toothpaste. So, my mom would have him brush my teeth and rinse before going to bed each night. This will help your children to brush their teeth at night as well as ward off any hairy, scary, stinky monsters!

TLC Can be the Best Defender

You may not find it useful to enable your child's belief in monsters. If you do not wish to enable your child to have these imaginations, you can always use love to help your children feel safe. I am sure any parent is putting this method into place already. But, at some point you will have to stop with the monster spray, the security guard teddy bear, and any other tactic to ward off monsters. Just remember that many children will grow out of this phase of being afraid of the dark. Well, let me rephrase, they will grow out of the phase of being terrified. Many adults still have issues with darkness. If your child does not outgrow their fear of the dark by a certain age, you may want to discuss their fears with your family doctor. He may be able to tell you if these fears have crossed the normalcy line.

Being Afraid of the Dark is Usually Just a Phase

Being afraid of the dark is usually just a phase in a child's life and noting to be worried about. However, if your child is having major anxieties over the dark, you may want to investigate their fears further. Believing there are monsters in the room may be masking an even greater problem in your child's life. Always listen to your children; listening to your children may require more than hearing them sometimes. Sometimes our children are trying to tell us something and we continually miss the red flags. I am not suggesting that there is in fact a monster in their room, but, something may be going on in your child's life that you need to pay attention to.