How to help a child who is afraid of the dark: do not scold him for this fear

26.06.2024 18:08

A child’s fear of the dark is not an innate but an acquired fear, which must be dealt with under the supervision of a psychiatrist.

However, there are things that you can do yourself – we will tell you about them in detail in this article.

Buy a night light

The main thing is to choose one that will not interfere with a good night's sleep. To make sure that you have the right product, do a simple test - turn on a night light in a dark room, close your eyes and cover them with your hand.

If it has become significantly darker with your hand, the night light is too bright. You won't see much of a difference - the lamp is suitable, you can take it.

Follow the content

Don't rely solely on age ratings - monitor what your child is watching and listening to yourself.

Night light
Photo: Pixabay

Don't scare the child

Even at the age of several months, a child is already able to understand some words, so you should not cultivate a fear of the dark, saying, for example, “Let's go to sleep, or else the bogeyman will come.”

In addition, you cannot use the “fight fire with fire” method, intentionally leaving the child in the dark - it is possible that he will get used to it (forced) and stop showing fear, but the fear of the dark will remain with him for a long time, if not for life.

Don't scold the child

There is no point in shaming or scolding a child for his fear – this will definitely not make it go away.

Earlier we talked about how to properly punish a child .

Elena Shimanovskaya Author: Elena Shimanovskaya Editor of Internet resources


Content
  1. Buy a night light
  2. Follow the content
  3. Don't scare the child
  4. Don't scold the child