Fear: How to Overcome Nighttime Anxiety in Children

Childhood fear. Everyone has his or her own story to tell. After the lights are dimmed, the shadows around the room seem to take lives of their own. Your six year old imagination whirls. You wonder if the knocking on your window really is a tree branch or a witch trying to get in. Suddenly, the green jacket on your desk starts to look like that ghoul you saw on TV that afternoon. And under your bed – you can’t even begin to think about what’s under the bed. A boogey man, Frankenstein or Dracula (or all three!) could be hiding underneath, ready to pounce on you at the smallest move you make.

Fear: How to overcome nighttime anxiety in children? Here are some tips to banish all the monsters in your child’s imagination. 

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1. Watch what they watch.
Being a child is not easy. You are very impressionable and imaginative. That is why allowing your children to watch horror movies might not be a good idea. Watching cackling witches or frightening Frankenstein will definitely affect your child’s imagination. Very young children have yet to learn to differentiate fiction from reality. So until your child is mature enough to do so, skip the cartoons and movies with creepy creatures. If somehow they get to watch a horror flick without you knowing it, be quick to explain that the monsters in the film are not real. They are just “made-up” characters and will not appear to haunt them in their rooms at night.

2. Bedtime Rituals
Another reason why children have nightmares or lie awake at night thinking of ghosts is because they’re not really relaxed or sleepy. You can help solve this problem by setting certain bedtime rituals to help your child slip on to the Land of Nod. Give him a glass of warm milk before bed. Tuck her in. Read an appropriate bedtime story. All these will help your child relax and leave the imaginings for the morning.

3. Nightlights
One thing that helps both parents and children how to overcome fear is putting a nightlight in the child’s room. This way the room won’t be pitch dark after the main lights are turned off. Having a nightlight not only helps make the child feel more secure, but is also keeps the child from stumbling around in the dark when he or she needs to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Keep in mind though that you choose a nightlight with a really low light. Having too much light will not induce sleep and will keep your child awake.

How to overcome fear in children, especially at night, is something everyone goes through. You have gone through it as child and now have to help your own kids through it. Remember to be patient and do not belittle their childish fears. Try to recall how terrifying it all was for you – and be ready to offer comfort and solace to your kids when they feel afraid. After all, the soothing hug of a parent is best remedy against every nighttime fear.

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