night lights

[babe1201]

Hi! I remember reading awhile back that night lights were bad for babies' visual development--I think they were supposed to increase the likelihood of nearsightedness. Does anyone know about this, or know whether there are any types of lights that do not cause this problem? Thanks.

[hellollama]

I heard that study was flawed because they didn't bother to take into consideration that children and their parents may be more likely to need a light because they are nearsighted. This is a classic case of people reading causation out of correlation. Just because nearsighted people use nightlights more often doesn't mean the nightlight actually cause nearsightedness. More likely, vision problems cause parents and their children (who may inherit similar problems) to use a nightlight in order to see better. This isn't just my opinion. I've heard experts familiar with the study say the exact same thing.

[sntm]

i just did a literature search over the last 7 years and while there haven't been many studies looking at that, only one showed a correlation and that was a retrospective study (asking adults or parents of adults to remember back to if they used a night light). so, the jury is still out, but there does not seem to be any good scientific reason to chuck the night light.




shannon
not-even-pregnant-yet-overachiever

***that would be, dr. shannon :)

correlation : perceptual and motor skills, 6/01

no correlation : british journal ophthalmology, 5/01, some german journal

[babe1201]

Thank you both.