Do you ever let your kids sleep with the lights on?

[TxCat]

DD has lately been asking for "light on" when she goes to sleep. Her overhead light is a 3 bulb chandelier, 40-watts each, on a dimmer switch. So, when I leave the light on, on the lowest dimmer setting, it's pretty dim. I've tried substituting the Twilight Turtle nightlight instead, but she won't go for it. DH thinks this is a bad habit for her to get into, but I feel like kids being scared of the dark and wanting a nightlight is pretty normal.

So, bad habit, or okay to give into?

[waitingforgrace]

DD1 sleeps with a dim lamp on. Started pretty suddenly that she wouldn't sleep without it. Might be a bad habit but not a battle I want to fight right now. If we turn it out she wakes up and gets up to turn it back on.

[SnuggleBuggles]

All the time. They both have 25 watt lamps on. I gave up ages ago. I usually turn off ds1's lamp when I go to bed but if I try to do ds2's he cries middle of the night. They seem to sleep really well so I have given up.

[BayGirl2]

DD1 sleeps with a dim lamp on. Started pretty suddenly that she wouldn't sleep without it. Might be a bad habit but not a battle I want to fight right now. If we turn it out she wakes up and gets up to turn it back on.

:yeahthat:
Started recently for us. Except if I turn it off he screams for us.

[hellokitty]

Not purposely, but they have fallen asleep with the light on while reading or forgot to turn it off when they got up to use the bathroom. If they consistently wanted to keep the light on, I would probably get the a low voltage lamp and let them use that for nighttime, instead of an overhead ceiling light. I don't really have any issue with it (they have a night light as well, but it's really dim), except that I am one of those ppl who needs it to be pitch black to sleep, so I just find it more odd, than anything. However, for kids, I can understand it, I was scared of the dark as a kid.

[sarahsthreads]

I have distinct memories of the terror I felt of the dark as child, so if my children need to go to sleep with the light on, they can have the light. (If we're being honest, I still get a little nervous about the dark if I think too hard on it.)

Right now it works for us to let DD2 fall asleep with the light on and then turn it off once she's sleeping (like, 10 minutes later). DD1 can finally fall asleep with the lights out, but that's a pretty recent thing.

We've tried, over the years, every type of night light there is, with not too much success. The Dream Lights they got for Christmas worked for a couple of weeks, but then they were back to the room lights. :shrug:

To me it's not a battle worth fighting.

Sarah :)

[jgenie]

DS1 sleeps with his light on. We dim it before we go to bed but if he wakes up and it is off he gets upset. Not worth the fight so we leave it alone.

[KpbS]

My kids are really sensitive to light (they get it from me) and I don't think they could fall asleep with the light on. Would she maybe go for the twilight turtle if she was the one to turn it on and off in the morning? Give the turtle a fun name? It would give her a bit more control of the situation and maybe distract her enough to give it a chance.

[crl]

I totally think it is a bad habit. But I also totally caved on it. Dh let ds sleep with his light on a few times and I just gave in. So he sleeps with it on. And pulls the covers over his head. I guess he is afraid of the dark/shadows? Ds has never slept well and now I have dd who is also a bad sleeper, so at this point all I really care about is that he doesn't wake me up at night on top of his younger sister waking me up. Bad, bad mom, but I do not function well at all with sleep deprivation.

Catherine

[ellies mom]

Both my girls slept with the light on. Dd2 still does but dd1 stopped on her own. If it helps them sleep in their room with less hassle, I'm ok with it.



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[mousemom]

DS has a 15 watt lamp that he leaves on all night, every night. Started about a year ago when he decided a night light wasn't enough. He sleeps well with it, so we don't fight it.

[citymama]

My DDs sleep with a low watt bedside lamp on all night. They share a room and they have one light on near dd1s bed. I don't see a problem with it.

[Pear]

After much struggle we convinced Dd to sleep with a lamp instead of the overhead light. We slowly lowered the wattage of the light bulb in the lamp. I still think it is glaringly bright, but we have enough nighttime battles.

[belovedgandp]

We have nightlights that are wired into the outlet. They have sensors, so turn on when the room is dark. They have dimmers too so really just a bit of light in both rooms for the kids.

But it doesn't appear to be essential for them. In other places they have slept without the light.

I admit I like having light. When DH travels I leave the closet light on. He on the other hand even turns his alarm clock away from the bed because the glow of the numbers bothers him.

[AshleyAnn]

I'm 26 and I sleep with the lights on! I keep my bedside table on with a 40w bulb on 24/7 and it does not affect my sleep quality. It started as a comfort thing when my exhusband joined the Army and I had to adjust to sleeping alone and never went away. I think I also slept with a light on as a teen.

DD has a dreamlite pillow pet she uses occasionally but usually I leave her door cracked and turn the bathroom light on until she's asleep. She does not have a nightlight in her room but only because the bathroom light works well for us. I would not hesitate to let her have a light (it'd be hypocritcal for one thing!)

As a side note, the light does not distrube my sleep but if I fall asleep with the tv on my sleep is definately affected. I would NOT permit a TV after bedtime, the noise and flashing lights do not help the REM cycle!

[Tondi G]

My boys have a lava lamp in their room, that is their nightlight!

[hillview]

DS1 falls asleep with the dimmer light on and I usually turn it off when I go to bed.

[missym]

DD2 is afraid of the dark, so we got a Moon in My Room - it's bright enough for her and has an automatic shutoff.

[sunshine873]

We had a few night lights, but there was a period (around 3.5 yrs old) whe DDs fear of the dark became a big deal. We decided not to fight it too much. I remember what it's like to be scred of something and a few extra dollars on the power bill was not worth the struggle to me. We left the light on in her room for a few weeks and then she let us switch it to the hall light or bathroom light (right outside her room.). After a few months, she adjusted and now we are back to just one night light in her room.

[mom3boys]

Yes, DS1 and 2 always had a light on in their room for when they fell asleep. I would turn it off when I went to sleep (I left the light on in the bathroom, though, as DS2 almost always makes a night time trip). Then for awhile they were OK with just a dream light, but they would get upset when they woke up and the dream light wasn't on, so I'd have to turn it on. Sometimes they would go back to needing a full light, for a few nights, I don't know why.

Recently we moved to a new house with a different layout. In our previous house they were up a full flight of stairs and around a corner from our living area, now we have a split level so "upstairs" is about 6 stairs and it is a straight line down a hall from their bedroom to the living area (+ the stairs). We were doing the dream light with the bedroom door open and the hall light on, but it was impossible for them not to hear the television with that set up and I think it was keeping them up. Recently we've gone to door closed, with a small lamp on (maybe 25 watts). The lamp usually stays on all night--I've tried to turn it off when I go to asleep, only to be awakened later by DS2 because he wants it back on!

I am always surprised by how much light kids can sleep with. Honestly the lamp is basically right in front of DS1's face and he falls right to sleep.

[NewMom2007]

My kids have a touch lamp with 3 settings that they keep on low all night.

I don't have any problem with it and it never crossed my mind that this would be a bad habit. Am I missing something? It comforts them and they sleep well (and if they were to get up in the middle of the night, it would help them see any stray lego pieces on the ground).

[MamaMolly]

Lula has a bathroom joining her room so I leave the light on in the bathroom and pull the door almost shut. She usually gets out of bed and opens the door up most of the way. :)

Dolly didn't use a night light but then recently decided she wanted one. We put a very dim outlet nightlight in her room, but she sometimes asks for the hall light on.

All our bulbs are CFL so I don't think it is a big deal.

[Jen841]

My kids are really sensitive to light (they get it from me) and I don't think they could fall asleep with the light on. Would she maybe go for the twilight turtle if she was the one to turn it on and off in the morning? Give the turtle a fun name? It would give her a bit more control of the situation and maybe distract her enough to give it a chance.

Ditto! We did Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child (Dr W ran the practice where DS1 was). If there is a hint of the stairs light under their closed door they yell for us to turn off the light. There is an issue with cousin sleep overs b/c mine need dark and the others need light.

My one son you put him in bed and turn out the light and he INSTANTLY falls asleep. Wish that was the case for the first 2 years of his life!

[lizzywednesday]

I slept with a small lamp on in my room 'til I was in high school and contemplating living at school in a dorm.

I weaned myself off sleeping with a light on when I was 18.

For the record, DH sleeps with a light & the radio on. When we first lived together, this was an issue for me - after years of dorm life, I prefer it to be dark and quiet to sleep. (Yes, I managed to get quiet dorms.)

[marymoo86]

We haven't had that issue yet. But doesn't light interfere with deep sleep? Was in Weissbluth's book I read that?

[arivecchi]

DS1 used to go to sleep with the lamp by his bed on every night. He then asked for a dream lite and he uses that now.

[gatorsmom]

All the time. They both have 25 watt lamps on. I gave up ages ago. I usually turn off ds1's lamp when I go to bed but if I try to do ds2's he cries middle of the night. They seem to sleep really well so I have given up.

:yeahthat: exactly this. Greenbean wants his bedroom lamp on and his closet light on. Cha Cha wants his overhead dimmer light on. Sisi and gator are the only ones who want it dark. I don't fight it anymore. If they want the lights on, I let them.