i want to help my son pass this phase !!!!!!!!!!

[gissela]

my son is 11 years old and hes afraid of the dark  room, we have a lamp but he has to turn on my light first and then  go in the room and turn on the lamp quickly , he says he sees shadows . i tell him they dnt exist to not be afraid . but he still is afraid i dnt knw what to do any more..... that use to be my room and my mom put him in the living room cause there more light . he sleeps with the night light , lamp tv on all night .

[adgal]

Well, I have to admit something here...I am 43 and still hate the dark.  I sleep with my hall light on and the bedroom door cracked a bit..drives my husband crazy.  Can't help it, I just hate the pitch black.  

I wouldn't let him sleep with the TV on, but would be ok with a light of some sort.  Now, bright lights can also interfer with REM's, so I would get something bright enough to chase away those shadows but not as bright as a regular light.  And then I would leave it at that.  I guess I just don't think this is that big a deal.  That's just me though.

[ku111]

I had a little bit more of an imagination when I was young and I slept with tv and light on also.  No big deal.  I have one child a lot like me, he did also and outgrew it at 15 or so and the other does not and never has.  They will either outgrow this phase or it will be what it is.  No big deal either way.  I would just not make a big deal of it and let it take its course.  Make bedtime less stressful for both of you.  Goodluck!

[specialmom]

Hi, well----  there are actually studies that show TV while sleeping causes issues with REM sleep. Get rid of the tv being on.

My son slept with a full lamp on every night for years.   He finally turned it off last year and now can sleep in a dark room.

While inconvenient, he'll probably outgrow it but do get rid of the tv during sleeping time as that can disturb normal sleep patterns.

Don't shame him.  Not worth it.

Also, you can give him a flash light to have at night.  maybe if he has some control of light at his finger tips, he'll not need the other light so much.  
goodluck

[margypops]

Well if its not a problem let him have the light on all night,. Has anything happened to frighten him, has he seen any scary TV or computer games. It could be a phase he is going through, how about school is all well there ?