Why is a child afraid of the dark and what to do? What to do if a child is very afraid of the dark Why are children afraid to sleep in the dark

For adults, children's fears are funny and absurd; often parents just brush them off, casually comforting the child: “Stop it, what could be scary in a dark room?” Busy with everyday chores, work, and housekeeping, adults have forgotten how they themselves were children. Meanwhile, the children's world, albeit imaginary, is full of various impressions and emotions, from which the character of behavior, habits, likes and dislikes will later be formed. These emotions are not always positive; the baby still cannot explain many things to himself – and then the child develops an unaccountable fear. One of these is fear of the dark.

Why is a child afraid of the dark?

Psychologists identify two main reasons for children’s fears:

• the influence of adults on the child’s consciousness;
• self-hypnosis, which is very highly developed in children.

One careless phrase from a mother, grandmother or grandfather, a situation accidentally seen on the street or in a cartoon, one’s own dream - and a clear picture and its assessment have already formed in the child’s imagination. All this is deposited in the child’s memory, and if an identical situation arises in reality, the experienced unpleasant sensations return - fear appears.

The most common reason for fear of the dark in children is intimidation of elders for educational purposes. Parents don't do this on purpose. If a tired mother comes home from work and she doesn’t have the strength to deal with the baby, her beloved, but so annoying and curious, the easiest way is to say: “If you don’t listen, I’ll give it to Baba Yaga (Babaika, the Evil Witch, Koshchei, etc.).” . The first time the child will not believe it. Perhaps in the second and third too. But sooner or later the thought that something big, scary and hostile may be hiding around the corner, in the closet or in the attic, will take hold in the child’s head. And the moment will come when adults tell him to go to the next room or get something out of the closet, and he will become stubborn and answer: “I won’t go, it’s scary there!”

This is just one of the reasons. Fears can also cause:

• situations that have ever been experienced that caused mental trauma to the child: an attack by an animal, a fall from a height, a car accident, etc.;
• stories from other children about some scary stories and horror films;
• repeated regular bans;
• conversations heard in the news or from elders about disasters, murders, wars, etc.;
• conflicts in the family, especially if they also affect the interests of children;
• conflicts with peers at school or kindergarten.

It is important to remember: parents themselves almost always become the culprits of their child’s fears. Follow the topic of conversation in the presence of the baby, and avoid negativity, aggression, and violence. Also, do not watch horror, mystic and action films in front of your child, and do not allow him to watch cartoons where the main characters are monsters and aliens. The baby is only afraid of what he can imagine - remember this!

Children's phobias cannot be ignored. It is necessary to understand their cause and help the child overcome his fear, since researchers have proven that most adult phobias and nervous disorders have their roots in early childhood.

Child is afraid of the dark at 3 years old

3 years is exactly the age at which a big world outside the native one opens up for a child apartment and mother's caring hands. The child goes to kindergarten, where he meets peers, learns to care for himself and do without parental attention. The same thing happens at home - if possible, he is moved to a separate room, if not - simply to a separate crib. The baby is no longer allowed to sleep next to (or at least fall asleep) with his mother. Everyone repeats that he is already big, reads him a bedtime story... and leaves, turning off the lights.

You shouldn’t be surprised that after just a few minutes a call is heard: “I’m scared! Turn on the light!" Although in fact we are not talking about the fear of the dark, but about the fear of loneliness. The child simply calls his mother to come to him again and sit with him a little longer, inventing the most significant reason for this in his opinion.

How to solve a problem

A large, soft plush toy that is very cozy and pleasant to hug instead of your mother helps a lot. She should always be in the crib with the baby. You can additionally explain to him that this is both a nanny and a protector. And even if the mother is not around, nothing bad will happen while he is guarding the baby. There is no point in asking a child at this age what exactly scares him - the baby is still too young to clearly explain his experiences.

What not to do

There is no need to indulge the whims of your capricious beloved and take him to your bed. Moreover, you should not teach your child to sleep with the light on - then it will be very difficult to wean him from this habit.

Child is afraid of the dark at 4 years old

At 4 years old, children already have their own circle of friends in the garden and on the playground, where conflicts invariably arise - even if they are children's, and tomorrow those who today fought with cars and were covered with sand will hug again, but at the moment for the child it is a drama. The same applies to cartoons and fairy tales. The child instantly grasps and remembers everything he saw and heard; he is already able to evaluate it from his own point of view. And if he doesn’t like something, worries him or is very impressed, fear may arise. According to psychologists, fear of the dark at this age in most cases arises under the influence of external factors.

How to solve a problem

Talk to your child first of all. If the issue is a conflict with peers in kindergarten (and possibly with the teacher), be sure to figure out what the essence is, find out whether someone scared your baby or threatened him. Often, educators frighten children during quiet time - and then the child is afraid not only of falling asleep in the dark, but even of the very process of getting ready for bed. To get rid of fears, find time to play with your child, collect soft toys and dolls, sit them in a circle and invite your child to act out certain scenes from life - in kindergarten, in the yard, at home, in a store. If you are attentive and patient, either you yourself will find the answer to your question, or the baby will tell you everything during the game.

Child is afraid of the dark at 6 years old

By the age of 6, a child’s mental abilities have already developed so much that he is able to create simple situations in his imagination and think through the further course of events. Fear of the dark stems from the fact that he cannot control what is there because he cannot see it. He feels helpless and begins to panic, immediately imagining something hostile, unfamiliar, aggressive. The baby cannot explain why himself. He is simply afraid of what may be hiding in a dark corner, under the bed, behind a bush.

How to solve a problem

Your task is to gently and confidently explain to your child that a dark place is not necessarily dangerous. Demonstrate this to him by lighting up all the dark places and corners that might scare him when he is alone. Tell a story about a magical kingdom that comes to life only when everyone in the house falls asleep, come up with kind and sweet heroes, give them names. Try to convince the baby that the dark is not scary, and for clarity, you can tell about how, as a child, you were afraid of a hat hanging on a hanger in the hallway, or the shadow of a chest of drawers.

Helpful advice: sometimes rearranging the nursery or the room in which the baby sleeps has a good effect. Try to close the corners as much as possible and arrange the furniture so that there are no niches or hidden places that would scare him in the dark.

Child is afraid of the dark at 7 years old

At the age of seven, another new cycle begins in your child’s life - he says goodbye to kindergarten, goes to school, and again he has to face the unfamiliar and unknown, which he still needs to study and get used to. It is not surprising that it is at the age of 7 that many children experience a return of fears from early childhood - or their appearance.

In addition, children begin to understand their place in life, are able to make comparisons, and clearly determine what they like and what they don’t. There is an assessment of everything they see around them. And along with this, there arises the fear of losing the most precious thing - mom, brother or sister, best friend in the class. In the dark, when a first-grader is left alone with his thoughts, he becomes scared.

How to solve a problem

Under no circumstances should you laugh at your child or say that at his age it is already a shame to be such a coward. You should now, more than ever, show affection and care, talk to your child more, ask how he is doing at school, if he has any new friends. You must also answer all his questions honestly and in detail. If he wants to talk about all sorts of horrors and horror stories, let him talk, it means he is trying to fight what he sees in the dark. Invite him to draw it in pictures on paper - and then together add some fun details to the drawing. Buy a globe at the same time, and, illuminating it with a lamp, explain to your child that night is a normal phenomenon, the sun is just shining now for people on the other side of the planet, but in a very short time it will certainly return to us.

Child is afraid of the dark at 8 years old

Usually children outgrow their fears by this age; the dark no longer frightens them. If your child still asks not to turn off the light at night and does not want to be left alone, or wakes up in the middle of the night and goes to the parent’s bedroom, claims that someone is looking at him from the darkness or touching parts of his body, what is he dreaming about? how they strangle him or take him somewhere - this is a signal for immediate action.

How to solve a problem

In this case, you cannot do without the help of a qualified specialist. First of all, pay attention to your behavior: how you talk to your child, how much time you spend with him, is everything okay in your family - not necessarily with your spouse, quarrels with your mother-in-law or mother-in-law can have no less of a shock on the child’s psyche than divorce of mother and father.

Parents, faced with a similar problem, often go to two extremes:

Whereas the solution is simple. There is no need to ignore a child's fear of the dark. But also focus attention on it, especially in front of strangers. As a rule, emotional, sensitive children are afraid of the dark; they may be offended by the fact that you are discussing their secrets with strangers. He will stop trusting you. And your task is just the opposite, to inspire his trust and get him talking. And it’s better to do this during the game

The fear of the dark in children is not a vice, not a shame, and not a whim. Many adults are also afraid of the dark, although they will not admit it. Do not ignore your child’s experiences and fears; in most cases, it depends only on you how happy his childhood will be and how prosperous his adult life will be.

Fear of the dark in children: Reviews from readers

Marina Vasilyeva, 31, Volgograd, daughter 6 years old.“We never had any problems with the dark; Anyuta slept in her crib from the age of two and fell asleep alone just fine. In the summer we went to visit my grandmother, where she spent the whole day walking in the yard with her friends. And then I noticed that before she entered the entrance, she began to call me to come down and meet her. At first only in the evening, then constantly, even if she just needed to take a doll or pencils. To my question, Anya answered: “I’m afraid to go myself, there are monsters under the stairs.” It turned out that when they were playing hide and seek, her older friend forbade her to hide in the entrance, telling her some wild stories about toothy monsters with tails and wings. I talked to the mother of this girl - she said that she allows her daughter to watch horror films and play adult computer games, so that she understands that it is not real and is not afraid of anything. Moreover, she herself is a teacher at school! But I don’t approve of such methods, now my always calm Anya is capricious every evening and doesn’t want to sleep without a night light, she already sees monsters everywhere.”

Evgenia Ozertsova, 34, Belgorod.“By the age of 7, my daughter became afraid to enter a dark room. It got to the point that at night she didn’t make it to the toilet on time, she endured it until the last, because she was afraid of the dark corridor. Chance helped. We were once visiting at the dacha and sat late on the porch. And her backpack with dolls and notebooks remained on the swing in the yard. Masha kept tugging at me and whining: “Mom, bring it!” and then a neighbor in the country, a man of about 50, who himself has five children, invited her to imagine himself as a scout who needs to complete an important mission - to get a pink backpack with secret materials before his enemies get to him. And in order to find it, he handed her a pocket flashlight, but warned her that it should only be turned on as a last resort, otherwise the enemy would notice her and take her prisoner. The game of scouts is now our favorite. Secret materials are hidden under beds, in closets - wherever it is darker. And no fears."

Veronika Oniskina, 46, Moscow. " I raised two sons, now I help my daughter-in-law look after her second grandson. They were all afraid of the dark at one time, but I didn’t do anything about it. Somehow they outgrew it themselves and forgot. And now they just like to delve into everything, they are afraid to buy a kilogram of sausage without the help of a psychologist and self-analysis. I am against all this; children should grow and develop naturally.”

Katya Ivkina, 24, Moscow.“To stop waking up at night, we went to a child psychologist for six months. And then we attended group classes at an early development school. We were told that this was a neurosis, somehow connected with my difficult labor - it was protracted for me, but ended in a caesarean. The doctor says that I got off easy, if only my son wakes up at night and is afraid of the dark, it could have been worse. Now it’s all over, but I understand that I couldn’t have done it on my own, without specialists, even though I’ve read a bunch of all kinds of literature.”

Anastasia Kuzmich, 27, Voronezh.“This story is not mine, but of my friends. A very difficult case. The grandmother took the girl from her parents to raise her and formalized guardianship because her mother abused her as much as she could. No, she didn’t beat me, but she constantly humiliated her, called her names, punished her - and put her in a corner, and also fenced her off with a curtain. This was all pulled out from the child in the child psychologist’s office bit by bit. The girl is downtrodden, twitchy, although she lived in a good family, no one drinks or goes out. And I was so afraid of the dark that I couldn’t open my locker or look into my briefcase at school. Now the child is normal, the classes helped. But it’s still unknown what will happen to her in 20 years, when she has her own children!”

Oksana Moleva, 28, Samara.“I had such problems with my eldest son. At the age of three he began to wake up at night and demand that the light be turned on. Fairy tales helped us. I composed them myself, came up with stories about funny little people who live in toys and clothes in the closet and can only come out at night to bring sweet dreams to children. This is how we learned to quickly fall asleep in the dark, so that the little men could quickly get out of the closet and take good dreams to all the children in the city.”

A child is afraid of the dark, what to do: Video

Darkness is one of the most common childhood fears. To be honest, many adults feel uncomfortable sitting in pitch darkness or walking along an unlit street at night. What are children afraid of? - you will be surprised, but often children imagine various animals, fairy-tale characters and real people who for some reason caused fear. Children's imaginations rarely give birth to bloody monsters with axes or evil maniacs. In older children (after 7 years), fear manifests itself as a sensation: someone’s presence, an attentive gaze, extraneous rustles.

Causes of fear of the dark

• TV, internet. Even adults feel uneasy after watching horror films, let alone the unstable child’s psyche. A randomly flashed shot, a heard story - and please, the child already imagines that horror and evil spirits have settled in his room. Advice to parents: choose a program for family viewing carefully, and you will have time to watch a horror movie while your child is in kindergarten or sleeping.
• Intimidation from parents. Let's simulate a situation: the child does not want to sleep, and the parents have planned a quiet evening in front of the TV. The child goes to bed, and even with threats like “Babay will take the naughty ones” or “if you don’t sleep, the evil wolf will come.” What kind of vacation is this? - after such instructions, the baby is afraid to breathe and turn over with his back to the dark. The bottom line is: panic attacks, hysterics, nocturnal enuresis and other unpleasant things;
• Peers. Having heard enough horror stories about those who live “in a dark, dark room” or “summoning witches and devils,” children are simply afraid to sleep! Often a child’s fear of the dark appears after visiting a kindergarten, camp or school - the influence of peers is felt;
• Home furnishings. Psychologists call children “living barometers”; they feel like no one else if something wrong is happening in the family.

  Perhaps the baby does not yet understand the causes of conflicts and quarrels, but the fear of the unknown is formed more and more clearly, and anxiety takes the form of a phobia.

  How to help a child cope with fears?

  Interesting stories and fairy tales. Often the first action of adults is to give a long lecture about how there is no one in the room, there is no need to be afraid, because you are already an adult. However, this remedy is very dubious. The child needs more visual examples: tell him stories about animals or fairy tale characters: the cowardly bunny, the Brave Lion, and so on. Tell us how the heroes were able to cope with their fears and offer to take a helper - their favorite toy.

  Draw and tell. A simple but effective psychological technique is to ask a child to draw and then describe the creature he is afraid of. You can join the conversation, convincing your child that this animal is not scary at all: “look at what funny big ears he has, a potato nose, short legs.” This is not a Nightmare at all, but just a small abandoned creature that no one wants to play with. But if you stop being afraid of it, the animal will be able to find friends.

  Night light. If your child starts to get really hysterical before turning off the lights, meet him halfway and buy a night light. At first, do not turn it off even at night, so that the baby does not wake up in complete darkness, gradually you can refuse the night light. Another option is loosely closed doors - light will penetrate them, and the baby will also know that his parents are nearby and will come to him if necessary.

  Quiet music. Often children are afraid not of the darkness itself, but of unexpected noise. To distract your child from extraneous sounds - the stomping of neighbors, the sound of rain, rustling leaves outside the window, you can turn on soft music before bed.

  Protect your child from worries. Statistics don’t lie: children from “problem” families are afraid of the dark much more often than those whose home is quiet and quiet. Do not raise your hand to the child, scold him less, do not sort things out in front of him. Let him know that you love him and will always be there - with such support he will sleep better! Do not make a dark room a punishment for misdeeds - such fears are the strongest and remain even among adults. Do not call your child a coward: all you will achieve is that he will simply stop trusting you, but the problem will not disappear, but will turn into a phobia.

  We advise you to consult a psychologist if the fear has not passed by the age of 8-9, the child has strange fantasies (someone is strangling him, talking to him, etc.), every evening before going to bed he throws hysterics. You should also be alerted to the global fear of the dark - uncurtained windows, an open door to the pantry, twilight on the street, and so on.

Fear of the dark is one of the most common childhood fears. Almost all children go through this, and most of them outgrow this problem over time. But while the baby is afraid to be alone in a dark room and does not let his mother leave the bed, all parents want to help him cope with his fear. How to do this? First, you need to understand what and why is the baby afraid? It is clear that the cause of fear is the child’s wild imagination, which allows him to see a monster in every corner. But it is necessary to understand what provides food for such fantasies. It is also important to understand what parents need to do and what they should not do in such a situation.

Why is the child afraid?

Almost all children are familiar with the fear of the dark. Most often this is due to the inability to fully use all of your senses. If a child cannot see what is happening around him, then his imagination kicks in and “fills in” the missing details. It should be taken into account that in the dark the child instinctively listens and can even distinguish sounds that he would not pay attention to in another state.

Now we need to remember about human instincts. Primitive people were quite rightly afraid of the dark, since a dangerous predator could be hiding there. This fear helped to avoid danger, so it is not surprising that those children who were afraid to go into dark places more often survived. Much time has passed since then, but the primal fear of the dark remains.

This is how the fear of the dark develops: primitive instincts plus a lack of visual information, plus the child’s wild imagination. Not seeing surrounding objects in the darkness, the child begins to invent a “babaika” waiting for him in the corner, Baba Yaga from fairy tales and other frightening characters.

Quite often, the fear of the dark arises as a result of stress that has nothing to do with darkness, but the child cannot cope with them or talk about them.

Separately, it is worth mentioning the peculiarity of children's psychology, which allows them to inhabit with monsters only the space that is well known to them. This means that most often children are afraid in their own home and in their bedroom, but on a dark street they may not feel any discomfort.

What should parents not do?

If a child admits that he is afraid of the dark, parents need to react to this correctly. Therefore, we will first look at what not to do. You should not try to explain to your child that his fear is illogical and there is nothing to be afraid of in the room. The bad thing about fear of the dark is that it is irrational; only in rare cases can a child say that a specific object or sound scares him. Much more often, the child is afraid of precisely what he cannot see and it is useless to explain that there is nothing scary in the room. It’s invisible, which means you just don’t know it’s there. If in such a situation you persist and insist on your own, the child will think that you do not believe him and do not understand him, and will simply withdraw into himself.

You can’t play along with a child and pretend that monsters exist. You cannot offer him various devices to scare away monsters, as the child can only believe in them more and wait for their arrival.

Children's imagination is very developed, so they can easily confuse reality with fiction, and then it will be very difficult to return to the normal line between reality and fiction.

You should never make fun of a child for his... In this way, only one thing can be achieved: the child will close in on himself, and to his fears will be added self-doubt and distrust of his parents. Remember, to overcome fear you need faith in yourself and the support of loved ones, and by ridiculing a child, you will deprive him of both. It is not the child’s fault that the darkness seems scary to him, and in such a difficult situation he needs the support of his parents more than ever.

Getting rid of the "babayka"

Many generations of parents consider it quite normal to intimidate a child for educational purposes. For example, you won’t obey, eat, go to bed, etc. - the “babaika” will come and take it away. To parents, this seems like a completely harmless threat, because there are no “bubble” stories. But the child takes everything literally and begins to be afraid. Of course, he has no idea what kind of “babes” there are and how they come, so any rustle in the dark for him becomes a sign of the arrival of a terrible enemy.

Under no circumstances should you be frightened intentionally, by anything, not by the “babaika”, not by the police, not by Baba Yaga or any other fairy-tale characters. When telling fairy tales, you need to choose non-scary and instructive stories, for example, with animals in the lead roles.

If you really want to tell a fairy tale with scary characters, then you need to emphasize several times that this is fiction and nothing more, and this does not happen in life.

To overcome fear, you can advise your child to follow the example of his favorite hero, who, of course, is not afraid of the dark.

You should also not punish your child by leaving him alone in the room, especially if it is dark. Sometimes parents do this, not realizing that in this way they forever instill in the child a fear of the dark, since the connection is reinforced: punishment - bad - dark.

If fear has already settled in the soul (Video)

A very important step towards getting rid of the fear of the dark is creating a cozy environment in the children's room. The room should be as bright and welcoming as possible, even in the dark. You definitely need to use night lights; you can take several small LED lamps and place them in different parts of the room, and stick glowing stars on the ceiling.

The ability to see a perceived enemy helps boost self-confidence. To do this, you can give your child a flashlight. Surprisingly, something as simple as being able to illuminate any scary corner at any time often helps get rid of fear.

Sometimes, in order to get rid of fear, you need to turn from a victim into a hunter. If the child is afraid, turn on a bright light, give him a flashlight for the darkest places, for example, under the bed, and offer to find the supposed “babyka”. If you manage to turn such a search into an exciting and funny game, the “babaika” will be defeated.

We need to talk about children's fears. Let the child tell you what scares him, and the parents can tell you what they were afraid of and how the fear disappeared over time. Psychotherapists believe that this is one of the most effective ways to get rid of fear. It is imperative to hug your child often, this will allow him to feel supported and relieve him of many fears.

Before going to bed, you should try to help your child relax and calm down as much as possible. To do this, you need to talk to him, you can do a light massage. A glass of warm water will also do no harm, as it will act as a mild sleeping pill.

When will you need the help of a child psychologist?

Although the fear of the dark is one of the stages of growing up, and all children have to go through it, sometimes it becomes a real problem, and you can only get rid of it with the help of a specialist - a child psychologist. When is it necessary to seek advice from a psychologist?

The help of a specialist will be needed if the child’s fear of the dark does not go away until the age of 8-9 years. At this age, children usually already distinguish reality from fiction well, so frightening fantasies fade into the background.

If a child at this age does not fall asleep on his own, this may indicate a deeper problem that will be impossible to solve on his own.

You should be concerned if a child wakes up screaming and tells his parents that he was choked. This may indicate deeper complexes, a difficult psychological climate in the family, and it is quite possible that all its members will need the help of a psychologist.

It is also worth contacting a specialist if the child is waiting for the onset with fear and is preparing for it. If a child is afraid of even the slightest manifestations of darkness, for example, a slightly open bedside table or closet, twilight or curtained windows, it is better to consult a child psychologist.

Is he afraid to be alone in a dark room? Don't worry! Fear of the dark is the most common childhood fear. We will tell you how to help cope with it, without harming the baby. And we'll tell the darkness.

The child grows, and parts of the brain develop better and better. It is because of this that age-related fears appear. For example, children under 5 months may exhibit fear from suddenly switched on lights, loud sounds, or sharp cold. At 1-1.5, kids begin to be afraid of loneliness. They are afraid of being left without their mother. That is why they follow her around. Fear of the dark appears at a more conscious age - at 2.5-3 years old. Psychologists believe that fear of the dark develops the child’s instinct of self-preservation. The appearance of children's fears is a completely natural phenomenon. Therefore, you must be patient and help your baby fight them.
Why is a child afraid of the dark?

The fear of the dark can be explained this way: the child is actively developing fantasy and imagination. Children are also afraid of the dark because of the space they have no control over. The child’s brain immediately begins to “turn on” the imagination, to be afraid of everything that is devoid of light. The baby, as a rule, cannot clearly explain his fear of the dark. Therefore, you must help him with this.
Advice for parents

Don't even try to overcome your child's fear of the dark. This can lead to serious consequences. The baby may experience neurosis or insomnia.

Under no circumstances should you suggest to your child that something unnatural or abnormal is happening to him. Don't make fun of him for being a coward. All this can develop complexes in a child. On the contrary, say that fear of the dark is normal.

The easiest way to help a child overcome his fear of the dark is to turn on a night light. It should not be turned off at night, as the child may wake up at any moment and get scared.

Never intimidate a child or tell him scary stories if he doesn’t want to do something. On the contrary, you must convince the baby that home is always safe and that you are always nearby.

Make sure that your child does not watch movies about monsters and ghosts on TV or the Internet, or play scary games.

The child should constantly feel understanding and support from adults. They should help him fight his fear of the dark.

Try to explain to your child that when night comes, nothing changes. In the room, all objects remain in their places. They don't disappear, don't get bigger, and don't turn into monsters. Take the child by the hand and lead him to the place he was afraid of. Convince him that there is no one there and there is nothing to be afraid of.

Playing hide and seek in a dark room is a great way to teach a child not to be afraid of the dark.

If your baby begins to talk about fear of the dark even during games, asking you to tell a scary story is normal. This means your baby is fighting his fear on his own.

So, as you understand, a child’s fear of the dark is quite normal. The main thing is to be close to your baby during this period. Show attention and affection. Discuss his fears with your child more often, and under no circumstances scold or condemn him for it.

Many children are afraid of the dark. According to scientists and psychologists, there is nothing supernatural or abnormal in this - it is not without reason that some quite adult and healthy people also feel discomfort from being in a dark room. But why are children afraid of the dark and how can loving parents help them? Let's try to understand the reasons for such children's fears.

Why is a child afraid of the dark?

There are several main versions according to which children may be afraid of the dark.

Firstly, according to scientists, young children are accustomed to assessing the situation and environment based on all their senses: touch, smell, hearing, vision. A dark room practically deprives the baby of one of the most important senses – vision. The child does not see everything that is happening, and therefore begins to be afraid. At the same time, when a child is deprived of the opportunity to see everything that surrounds him, he instinctively begins to listen in order to be able to sense danger in this way. At the same time, even the most innocent and familiar sounds and rustles, to which the baby would not pay any attention in the light of day, take on completely different meanings in the darkness of the night.

The second reason for the fear of the dark in children is their wild imagination. Despite the fact that many parents limit their child’s viewing of TV shows and films that may be scary for him and even know what cartoons children can watch, a child can see the “scary guy” in a picture, a billboard, on a TV in a shopping center, etc. in public places. With the onset of darkness, children's imagination turns a familiar room into a completely different world, where all the midnight outlines come to life. Remember yourself as a child - didn’t you see monsters in the outline of a chair or a shirt hanging on the door? His imagination plays the same joke on your child.

What to do if a child is afraid of the dark?

The first and, perhaps, the main rule that caring parents whose children are afraid of the dark must unquestioningly follow is to never scold them for their fear! Many psychologists agree that the fear of the dark is an echo of the survival instinct, the roots of which go deep into the past. In addition, fear is characteristic of every sane adult - be it fear of heights, darkness, or robbers.

Listen to your child

Communication between parents and children often holds the key to overcoming a wide variety of fears. Ask your child what exactly he is afraid of in a dark room - monsters and monsters, loneliness or just a closed space.

Fictional childhood fears, how to deal with them

If it turns out that your child is afraid of imaginary monsters, try to explain to him that they simply do not exist. You can also use all sorts of tricks by using your own imagination. Tell us that you left special incense in the kitchen that will prevent monsters from entering the house.

Don't scare the child!

Many parents, for educational purposes, often push their child to fear. “If you don’t eat this soup, Babai will come for you at night!” - such an educational technique is harmful. You should not scare your child with fictional characters, because this will only develop his fear and, in the future, an uneaten bowl of soup will seem like a trifle to you, in comparison with the child’s demand to sleep with him and other manifestations of fear of the dark.

Limit TV viewing

Modern television thinks little about the correct compilation of the TV program - restrictions on watching TV are the sole concern of parents. In the morning, afternoon or evening, a child can easily see a scary movie, advertisement or cartoon, which is not at all beneficial for children to watch. We wrote about the dangers of TV for children in one of our previous articles.

What can you do to prevent your child from being afraid of the dark?

The best way to overcome the fear of the dark, oddly enough, is an ordinary night light. Leave the night light on at night so that the child does not “lose his vision” in his own room and can sleep peacefully. Please note that the night light should not be too bright - this is harmful to sleep, but very dim light will not harm the baby’s body at all, but will allow you to forget about all the monsters.

You should also not turn off the night light immediately after the child falls asleep. Children wake up many times during the night and turning off the lights can scare them.

Oddly enough, barely audible calm music also has a very beneficial effect on a child’s ability to overcome his fear of the dark. As we have already written, when a baby is deprived of the opportunity to see everything around, he instinctively begins to listen to any rustles, knocks, or steps. Calm “background” music will not allow him to hear anything strange and will allow him to easily fall into a sweet sleep.

And remember, fear of the dark is absolutely normal for a child. Never tell a child that he is a coward or a whiner - this will make him hide his fear inside himself and become an impetus for the development of a variety of complexes. Don't focus on the problem, and it will go away on its own over time.