What To Do When Your Child is Scared of the Dark

We all have fears. Even we adults, who are rational and experienced people, have fears. Sometimes we adults have fear of the dark. When my husband is out of town, suddenly my dark house seems very scary! If I, as an adult, can be scared sometimes, it isn't surprising that children are also at times scared of the dark.

Fears can be a normal part of development. As children get older and have imaginations, they can be scared of the dark. As you approach the situation when your child is afraid of the dark, try to remain patient and understanding. Remember that sometimes you are afraid of the unknown also and also that fear is a normal thing. Here are some ways to help your child when she is scared of the dark.

Turn on Nightlights

I am a BIG proponent of sleeping with darkness as much as possible. It helps your body go into deeper sleep, so I don't like there to be light in the room as much as possible. However, if I have a child who is scared of the dark, I will put a nightlight in the room. I recently did that with Brinley when she had a couple of scary dreams. After a few weeks with the nightlight, I took it out and she has been fine. So don't be afraid that once you add a nightlight in, you can't ever take it back out o the room. We use these simple night lights (affiliate link). They aren't too bright, so they aren't as disruptive to sleep as other nightlights we have tried.

Offer Comfort Items

Your child might feel better with a stuffed animal, a lovie, or a photo by her bedside. My kids love to sleep with a picture of Jesus on their nightstand. You might also put a picture of the family or a favorite pet. A comfort item can help  your child to calm down and pull from the rational side of her brain.

Say a Prayer

Prayer is very comforting and helpful. Say a prayer together that she will be able to feel comforted and secure.

Offer Assurance

Assure your child that your home is safe. You don't want to make a big show checking for scary things and then act relieved there is nothing scary. That seems sweet, but it can communicate to your child that she has a legitimate reason to be afraid. Ask her what she is afraid of and show her there isn't anything scary there. Afraid of what is under the bed? Look under there together to see that there is nothing scary there. 

As you offer assurance, don't belittle or criticize your child for having fears. "I know the dark seems scary to you. What makes you feel afraid? Oh, the closet? Let's check the closet together to see if there is anything scary there." 

Remove Triggers

So much can be so scary to your little child. You may find many shows aimed at entertaining children can really trigger fears in them. The conflict that was added to the show in order to make it more entertaining can be fear-inducing. In the dark, you can't see, and so if your mind turns to remembering those scary things you saw on television that day, it can make the dark even scarier. Be mindful of what you let your children watch and for how long they are watching things each day.

It isn't just television that can scare children. A book can be scary. An interaction in real life can be

scary. You screaming when you saw a spider can be scary.

You might also find a fear of the dark pops up when there is another big stress in life. The fear of the dark is just the way your child is manifesting her stress and anxiety. Is there is a big change happening at school, church, or home? New sibling? Mom pregnant? New job? Moving? New teacher? Help her work through the real fears to avoid a fear of dark creeping up. 

If your child is scared of shadows, playing shadow puppet games will help her understand shadows better so they seem less scary at bed time.

Empower Your Child

Give your child things to do when she is feeling scared. "When you feel scared of the dark, think about this happy thing. Hum your favorite song. Think of the story to your favorite book." Distracting your brain from the fear is helpful. You can also allow your child to look at a book until she feels ready to go to sleep. 

Give your child some actionable steps she can take to help her face the dark. "Don't be afraid" is not actionable. "When you feel afraid, do _____________." is actionable. 

Look at the Routine

If your bedtime routine isn't soothing enough, it can exaggerate her fear. If your child is going to bed too late, she will be less rational and more likely to succumb to irrational fears. 

Conclusion

As you help your child find ways to face her fear of the dark, be mindful about starting habits. Some things, like nightlights, are easy enough to use for a bit and then take away once her fear has eased up. Other things, like stuffed animals, are harmless enough to introduce into your child's life. Be sure anything you do start will be okay to continue on for an extended time.

This week, the ladies of the BFBN will all be talking about fears. Here is the schedule.

• Monday: Valerie from Chronicles of a Babywise Mom - What To Do When Your Child is Scared of the Dark
• Tuesday: Katrina from Mama's Organized Chaos - How to Ease Your Toddler's Fears
• Tuesday: Natasha from Let's Be Brave - 9 Ways to Teach Kids Bravery
• Wednesday: Christine from Christine Keys - 3 Powerful Ways To Conquer Your Toddler's Irrational Fears
• Wednesday: Carrie from Wiley Adventures - Fears at Bedtime
• Thursday: Kimberly from Team Cartwright - Real vs. Fake Fears: How to Distinguish Between the Two
• Friday: Caitlin from Rogers Party of 5 - Fear of Transitions
• Friday: Emily from Journey of Parenthood - How to Help Prevent Childhood Fears

How to Help Preschoolers Work Through Their Fears

Children get scared. It happens and it is natural. Adults get scared! Think of yourself. Do you ever get scared? I get scared at night when my husband is not home. I am a very logical and rational person, and I try to control my imagination and talk myself down, but it still happens! If a logical, rational adult can get scared, then you know an imaginative little child new to this world can get scared.

Many of the fears your child has will seem silly to you. It will be irrational. You child might be afraid of monsters. Well, you know there is no such thing as monsters, but your child doesn't. The only reality that matters here is the reality your child sees.

Now, knowing your child can't control the fear is great, but it doesn't make dealing with the fear any more enjoyable. Your preschooler might suddenly be scared of going to bed at night and will take you back to your babyhood days. Many times, you have another baby in the house, so dealing with it all can be overwhelming.

When your child has fears, this is not a time to return to cry it out. You first want to try to discover what is causing the fear in your child. You then want to manage fears. You then want to try to minimize fears by using that imagination to your advantage. This post contains affiliate links.

SOURCE OF FEARS
On Becoming Preschoolwise has a list of common fears (pages 193-195):

• Natural Fears: There are certain fears that are present in most people. A fear of some animal (spiders, dogs, snakes, etc.). A fear of strangers, a fear of being left alone, a fear of the dark, etc. Some of these natural fears can be compounded by the reaction of parents. When I think of my children in this situation, I think of bugs. I am scared of spiders. I just am. Throughout Brayden's life, there have been many times that I have reacted strongly to a spider. As a result, Brayden is scared of spiders. I hope his wife isn't! Recognizing this, I was very careful with Kaitlyn. She has more of a natural fear of bugs than Brayden. I have been careful to show no reaction and my husband has worked with both children to not be scared of bugs. More about that below.
• Fear of Unfamiliar: This can be a person, event, situation, activity, etc. Children have no way of assessing if their fear is founded or not. If they are scared, they are scared. Brayden has this fear tied to trampolines. He is just scared of getting on the trampoline because he has little to no experience with it. Even after playing with neighbors with a trampoline and watching them jump on it for months, he is still scared and will not get on it with anyone else.
• Imagination: The imagination can naturally create fear in your child. Monsters, ghosts, etc. There are many things your child's imagination can create.
• False Beliefs: Some fears develop out of bad experiences. Brayden has gone to the dentist since he was one. He has never been scared. Last January, he had surgery on his thumb. It was at the hospital. He was very brave, but the experience scared him. Interestingly, he has no fear with the doctor still, but is terrified of the dentist. He worries about the "blue curtain" again. I think having to lay down and open his mouth makes him feel vulnerable. Because of this fear Brayden now has of the dentist, Kaitlyn is now scared at the dentist, too. False beliefs can be from the child's own experience, or from the fears of friends, parents, siblings, or other people close to the child.
• Parental Anxiety: Parents can instill fear in their child with constant warnings "be careful..." "that dog might bite you..." "if you climb a tree, you will break your leg..." I think this situation is very common with an oldest child parent and their oldest child. Most oldest children are very cautious. If you are an oldest child, be careful about how you warn your oldest child. I have had to be very careful with Brayden. With Kaitlyn, however, my warnings are never enough to scare her :). She is fearless in many ways. Preschoolwise points out that this is a problem for constant warnings. Sometimes, you definitely need to warn your children. But you should have to be constantly warning your child.
• Television: This is my own addition. Brayden had a period when he was really scared at night for bed. After analyzing the situation, my husband and I felt like the television was largely to blame. Brayden doesn't watch anything drastic. He is only allowed movies rated G--and not all G movies are fair game. He only watches PBS kids on TV. But television coupled with the budding imagination can create some wild things.

MANAGING/MINIMIZING FEARS
Some fears can be managed. Some fears just need time for your child's reasoning ability to catch up and overcome it. Others need education. Some might need all three. Here are more ideas (pages 195-198):
What Not To Do:

• Pressure: Don't force your preschooler to "face his fears."
• Mock: Don't ridicule your preschooler for being scared. Laughing at him or telling him he is a baby isn't going to make him less scared.
• Dictate: Don't command him to not be scared.
• Dismiss: My addition. Don't simply say, "there is no such thing as monsters" and brush your child off.

What To Do:

• Compassion: Show love and empathy.
• Educate: Knowledge is power. The more you know about something, the less scared you will be of it. I remember when I went through my birth education class before Brayden was born. There were certain things I didn't want to know and I did not want to touch. I definitely didn't want to see that epidural needle! But the more exposure I had to it, the less scared I became. When the actual birth came, none of it scared me (of course, I might have done anything to get that baby out!). For certain fears your child has, you can educate him. Is he scared of puppies? If so, teach him about puppies. Why are they so bouncy? Is he being playful or mean? Can the snake get out of the cage? What is the science behind thunder? I find education very powerful with Brayden who has a very logical personality.
• Introduce: Let your child get acquainted with fears. You can role play, spend time with, or show by example. I have hoped that Brayden would get over his fear of the dentist, and while he has improved, I have decided some role-play will help. I let him be the dentist on me and I will be the dentist on him.
• Exposure: This is my addition and along the same lines as introduce and educate. My husband did a great job of exposing my children to bugs. He would catch a bug and hold it and have my children gather around. He would then tell them about the parts of a bug and encourage them to touch it. I would do the same (I am so brave!). Brayden is no longer scared of bugs and Kaitlyn could once again play outside in the summer :)
• Removal: Remove things you find create fear in your child. If TV makes it worse, stop watching TV for a while. Limit the TV and closely monitor the shows watched.
• Substitution: Teach your child to have courage. Encourage your child to be brave. Instead of saying, "don't be scared" say, "Be brave!"
• Prevention: I am amazed at how much better children handle things when they have fair warning. Remember that your child hasn't been around as long as you have. He doesn't know what to expect. If you are going to a fireworks show, tell him they will be bright and loud. Just saying "we are going to see fireworks" doesn't tell your child what to expect unless he has done it before.
• Non-conflict Training: This is my addition. I will talk to Brayden and tell him monsters aren't real, but I do it in the day when he is not scared. He knows they aren't real. He accepts that. That doesn't mean he never gets scared. It is like me :) He knows it is irrational, but the emotion is still present. Even Kaitlyn has caught on to this idea. Today she told me "there is no such thing as owies?" She had an owie but was trying to talk herself out of it. She doesn't grasp the concept here, but she is working at it :) It is funny what younger siblings glean.
• Pray: My addition. This is our best thing to do when Brayden is scared. We say a prayer. I like to have Brayden say the prayer. I will ask him, "Do you believe Heavenly Father can protect you? Do you believe he can help you feel safe?" he tells me yes, then he prays. It is a sincere prayer and warms my heart to see him exercising such faith.

IMAGINATION
This is my addition. This is an opportunity to use that imagination to your advantage. I think this needs to be used wisely. Some of these things I would never use on Brayden. He is so logical and accepting of reality that some of these things would only perpetuate his fear.

• Monster Repellent: Many of you may have heard of the idea to get a squirt bottle and spray it around the room, calling it monster repellent. I know some people put glitter in the water. Some decorate the outside of the bottle. This is something I wouldn't use on Brayden. For him, this would tell him monsters are real and he needs repellent to keep them away.
• Special Item: You might be able to find an item that will make your child feel brave. My husband gave Brayden his recorder (a musical instrument) and told him it would help protect him. Brayden slept with that thing for months!
• Animals: Whenever Brayden gets scared, then best imagination thing for us to do is set his stuffed animals up around his bed to watch over him.
• Protect: It can be good to say, "I know you are scared, but our job is to protect you. We will make sure nothing happens to you. That is our job."

NIGHT MARES/NIGHT TERRORS
Night mares and night terrors happen in the night some time. For night mares, we always go to Brayden, hug him, and stay with him until he falls asleep again. Sometimes his logic takes over and he feels fine and says, "Why are you still here?" so we leave :). Other times, he falls asleep as we rub his back.

For night terrors, there isn't really anything you can do. We go to him, but he is still asleep (though it seems like he is awake). He will be in my arms screaming, "I want Mama!" You just have to wait for it to pass. He usually goes right to sleep when it is over with not problem. We have found that night terrors are more common if he is overly tired. They are also more common if he is too hot or too cold, or if he has air blowing directly on him (like from a room fan).

LOOKING AHEADIf your child has yet to experience fears, you might be wondering when this will happen. Brayden first started getting night terrors around age two. His fears before bed happened a few months before he turned three, right around the time his imagination really took off.
Brayden has always been my logical child, and he isn't extremely imaginative. Kaitlyn's was using her imagination in full force before she turned two, so I fully expected her to have lots of nightmares. She is 2.5 and has yet to have a nightmare (knock on wood!).
My husband is very imaginative and had lots of nightmares. I am logical and really only had them when I had fevers. There is no way to know for sure if/when your child will have them. Just be prepared to be patient, loving, understanding, and kind when it does happen.

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