how to get your children sleep with lights off?

MagicalKingdom

DIS Veteran
Joined
Dec 3, 2009
Messages
582
I have problem sleeping with lights on, but when I switch the off the lights, my son having trouble sleeping. Any tips?
 
Do you sleep in the same room? If not I just let them leave them on. I don't sweat the small stuff. My kids have night lights, even the 18 yr old :goodvibes
and when they are little I would just let them go to sleep with as many lights on as they wanted and then turn all but the night light or small lamp off when I went to bed.

If you are going to be in the same room how about one of those sleep masks for you? and a compromise for him, like 1 lamp.
 
how old is your son? Maybe it's time for his own room and then he can have a nightlight!
 
Get yourself a sleeping mask! Then turn on the light in the bathroom and mostly close the door.

In a hotel room, ya gotta compromise...and this way no one will trip on the way to the potty in the middle of the night.

My hubby desires a pitch black room, however after a long day of touring he'll sleep however he can get it. You might not mind the light as much as you think you will.
 

My son is 3 now and he likes his lights on. He sleeps with a night light, and his door open and the bathroom light shines right into his room. every now and then he wants his big light on, and I just leave it on until I go to bed and he's good and asleep.
 
My son goes to sleep with over-the-bed lights on AND a nightlight. I switch them off when I go to sleep.

At first he use to panic when he woke up in the dark (middle of the night), but gradually he no longer panicked and just turned the over-the-bed lights back on himself.

Now there's lots of nights where he sleeps right on through to morning without switch the lights on again.

He's 6 by the way.
 
Try a night light or leaving a hallway light on. Both of our kids had this same issue when they were younger, but now they are fine with lights out. But we still leave a hall light on.
 
My son goes to sleep with over-the-bed lights on AND a nightlight. I switch them off when I go to sleep.

At first he use to panic when he woke up in the dark (middle of the night), but gradually he no longer panicked and just turned the over-the-bed lights back on himself.

Now there's lots of nights where he sleeps right on through to morning without switch the lights on again.

He's 6 by the way.
this sounds exactly like my 2.5 year old. He has to have his ceiling fan and light on when he goes to bed. He'll turn the fan off himself with the wall switch about 20 minutes after he goes to bed, but the light stays on until I turn it off before going to bed. When he gets up he will sometimes cry, othertimes he'll turn the light on himself and then go back to sleep.

I don't worry about it now...I'd rather he sleep than have a battle over the light. :)
 
Cloud B Twilight Turtle - you can get it at amazon. My boys each have one in their bed. They turn it on when they go to bed, it shuts off after 45 minutes. If they wake up during the night, they can easily find the button to turn it back on.
 
So depends on his age and where he is sleeping. If he is in his own room, I agree, let him sleep with them own.

If he is in you room and quite little, get a sleep mask and then try to start lowering the light a little at a time till it is dark. If he is older, the rule " my room, my choice ". Would be in place . Yep, DS slept with us and now DGS sleeps with us:confused3
 
My dd6 can't/won't go to sleep without the lights on so I leave them on until she's asleep and then turn them off. She has 3 nightlights in her room so even with the lights off, it's still not dark in there. My ds8 requires pitch darkness just light me. On the rare occassion that I let her sleep with me (she kicks, hits, sleeps sideways, etc.) she knows it's going to be dark and she's ok with that. When we are in a hotel room, that's still sleeping with mommy/daddy and the lights are off (I can't sleep if there's any light in the room).

If your child is in their own room, let them have the lights. If they are in your room and you want it dark, then no lights.
 
If your asking for an upcomeing trip, I would recommend changing your sleep habits and not the little ones. The child will have enough trouble sleeping in a new environment than you will sleeping with a light on.
 
We have a strand of purple christmas lights in my older 2 dd's rooms strung around the tops of wall. They are set to a timer so they can fall asleep with them and then they go off so there is not a fire hazard leaving them on all night, my middle daughter was terrified to be alone after sharing a room with my oldest for 5 years, and this is what we came up with, my oldest thought they looked cool so we did it in her room to:goodvibes
 
My little one is about to turn one next week and had never had a big problem with the dark but he has always slept alone. But someone said something about the twilight turtle. My kid LOVES this thing. it is dim so it will not bother you but it shines the stars up at the ceiling and the light can be 3 different collors. It will go off after 45 mins. When Tadpole is having a hard time falling asleep we also have the sea horse that has the light up belly and plays soft music. It keeps him distracted on the light long enough to fall asleep. I feel your pain. I hope you find something that works, and if you do let us know what it is.:surfweb:
 
I am almost 25 still can't sleep in the dark becuse is was such a bad expernce as a kid. I used to have the worse nightmers. Still have nightmers with the night light so I don't want to think about how much worse it would be if I did not use one
 
Unless you are sleeping in the room too, don't sweat it.My 6 yr old JUST started sleeping without a night light or any light.
 
We covered my daughters br ceiling with glow in the dark stars, moons, comets....she LOOKED FORWARD to bed time and turning off the lights.
 
Get yourself a sleeping mask! Then turn on the light in the bathroom and mostly close the door.

In a hotel room, ya gotta compromise...and this way no one will trip on the way to the potty in the middle of the night.

My hubby desires a pitch black room, however after a long day of touring he'll sleep however he can get it. You might not mind the light as much as you think you will.


I think I'll buy a sleeping mask.
Thanks for sharing guys.
 


Disney Vacation Planning. Free. Done for You.
Our Authorized Disney Vacation Planners are here to provide personalized, expert advice, answer every question, and uncover the best discounts. Let Dreams Unlimited Travel take care of all the details, so you can sit back, relax, and enjoy a stress-free vacation.
Start Your Disney Vacation
Disney EarMarked Producer






DIS Facebook DIS youtube DIS Instagram DIS Pinterest DIS Tiktok DIS Twitter

Add as a preferred source on Google

Back
Top Bottom