is it harmful to let kids sleep in the light?

daamom

Mon, Sep 08 2008, 4:29 am

I have the same issue with my 3 yr old dd, and it bothers me too. What I do is wait until she's asleep, then turn out her light, but leave the hallway light on with her door open, so she's not freaked out if she wakes up. It usually works.

red sea

Mon, Sep 08 2008, 10:28 am

There is backup to your thought that it is harmful to eyesight but you can always do what daamom says and get the best of everything or you can just be mean and let him scream it out and get used to going to bed w/o lights ofcourse .

earthmama

Mon, Sep 08 2008, 11:14 am

He screams if we turn it off during the night. I can try a nightlight of coursse but I dont have high hopes, he llikes LIGHT.But its not his eyes I worry about, tell me Im crazy but I once read that a woman can normalize her cycles by sleeping in total darkness like not even a speck of light.ma hakesher right?but I still worry its gonna mess up some INTERNAL system...even though hes a boy.thats what I meant by starting this thread.

sarahmalka

Mon, Sep 08 2008, 1:23 pm

It's true, darkness is important for proper hormonal cycling. The pineal gland in the brain responds to light/dark cycles and secretes melatonin as well as other hormones. Darkness promotes the melatonin release, light suppresses it. The pineal gland is still a bit of a medical mystery. Melatonin affects prolactin levels- prolactin is a hormone released by the pituitary gland that affects other hormones released by the pituitary (relations hormones FSH and LH which govern ovares and testes, TSH which governs thyroid, ACTH which governs adrenals). Some people think light pollution is having a negative effect on people's health. (I wrote a research paper about this question in med school!)

Try to wean him down off the light,just the same way you'd correct any other behavior of his you wanted to change. Follow your intuition with this. Is he mamash scared of the dark? Homeopathy might help, you could find a local homeopath or naturopath to guide you. Stramonium is a homeopathic remedy classically used in kids who are scared of the dark and need to sleep in light. Don't worry too too much if you can't get the light off- I mean, eventually he'll sleep grow up and sleep without a light. And there are much more dangerous things out there to protect our kids from!

Mrs. XYZ

Mon, Sep 08 2008, 2:20 pm

As a kids I usually fell asleep with the light on and my parents would turn it off later. It did not affect me, or my cycles in any way. Till today I still dont like going to sleep in the pitch dark, so I sometimes leave the door open a crack.

drumjj

Mon, Sep 08 2008, 2:30 pm

I also sleep with the light on I have since I was a kid and im a bit scared of a pitch black room aswell and my daughters seem to have inherited this problem but they have a lamp in their room and we try to switch it off when we remember

Purplehair

Mon, Sep 08 2008, 3:37 pm

earthmama wrote:

my 3 year old insists on sleeping in a brightly lit room.It makes me nuts, it seems so unnatural.anyone have anything to say?

I'm just wondering about his reasoning behind this. Has he specifically mentioned that he's afraid of the dark? (Even if he hasn't that might be the case) If so, perhaps the poster who suggested the nightlight is on the right track. Maybe talk with him about why he has the need to leave the lights on too.
Hatzlacha!