A Night Light in Your Baby's Room may Cause a Problem Later

Night lights although very convenient can cause a problem later if your child will not sleep in a room without a light. If you need to have a light on when checking your child, it is better to turn on a light outside the room such as the hall light. Turn it off when you have finished checking your child. Use a night light for an extended time while you are in your child’s room only when you are night feeding or changing your child. Many children are afraid of the dark because they are accustomed to having a night light on since birth. Avoid this from the start and your child will be able to sleep alone in a dark room.

How to wean your child off a night light: Try finding a duller light or put something in front of the light to make it dimmer (be careful it is not inflammable and is not close enough to the light to cause a fire). You may like to remove the night light from their room and plug it in outside their room in the hall or leave a distant light which can be gradually dimmed over a period of time or a bathroom light. The door to the bathroom can be pulled closed so eventually there is only a thin shaft of light showing. This will help your child’s confident to increase, ‘till they are willing to sleep in the dark. Another method is to turn the light off when your child is asleep. If they wake and are afraid, turn on a night light outside their room as described previously.

Tips: Remove the celing bulb if your child is old enough to turn his light on himself until he adjusts to the new system.

Remember: Research carried out by the University of Pennsylvania and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia says children who sleep in a dimly lit room until age two may become prone to near-sightedness in later life.

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