How to fight fears of the dark (and save on your bills)

Leaving the lights on at night could cost U.S. parents $911 million a year. Dr. Padmaja Sarathy, a Houston-based educational consultant and expert in early childhood education, shares her top tips on how to help children tackle their fear of the dark.

Three quarters of parents with children aged between two and ten have children who are afraid of the dark. This is what a study we conducted with 1,000 parents has discovered. As a result, 73% of parents leave lights and lamps on for an average of six hours a night in an effort to ward off fears, which adds almost $40 a year to household energy bills. What’s more, 97% of parents have left a light on for their child at some point in their life.

Leaving lights on is also putting a wrench in the works for eco-conscious parents, as it contributes to almost 1.93 million tons of CO2 emitted across the U.S. each year, the equivalent to powering the energy for more than 202,000 homes.

Work with children to overcome their fear

Being afraid of the dark is a common fear for many children, but there are ways for parents or guardians to help that can keep bills and carbon emissions low. The best option is to work with them to overcome their fear so that you can switch the lights off completely at night time, saving money, energy and putting your mind at ease. Being with a green energy provider is also an important step you can take to lower your bills and environmental impact.

There are many tactics out there to help kids overcome their fear of the dark. Some parents mentioned that simple tips like putting on an audiobook, reading them a bedtime story and keeping the door open have helped their child overcome their fear.

6 tips to try with your children

We also put together six additional tips with the help of Dr. Padmaja Sarathy, a Houston-based educational consultant and author with expertise in the fields of special education and early childhood education. Dr. Sarathy is the founder and president of PEACE, a nonprofit organization focused on parent-child nurturing and engagement, and the author of multiple books on educational topics:

1. First, children’s fear of the dark is quite normal. It is important to validate your children’s feelings when they’re scared of the dark. Listen to what’s bothering your child when they’re scared. What do they say and how are they feeling? Provide comfort and spend quality time together when they’re scared.
2. Try to read books that talk about being scared. Talk with your child about what the character is feeling and experiencing, and explore ideas together that might help them if they’re experiencing fear of the dark associated with night time. A very sweet and soothing picture book that you can read to a young child before bedtime is “Little Owl’s Night” by Divya Srinivasan.
3. Focus on positive thoughts before going to bed and let them talk about their favorite things. Before you leave the room, you can tell them a story at bedtime and give them a big hug. This will help them to feel safe.
4. Give your child an opportunity to exercise some control over what happens before they go to bed. Let them turn off the main (big) lights and switch on a smaller night light in the bedroom and other areas as well (bathroom or hallway).
5. Celebrate your child’s success when they remember to turn off the main (bigger) light and turn on the night light on without a reminder from you. Acknowledge it immediately and make a positive comment about it.
6. Encourage younger children (4–7 years olds) to think of ways that they can show their love for Mother Earth, starting with turning off the lights at night. Discuss and explore together the simple and everyday things they can do to save energy and be better protectors of our planet.

Have your kids been scared of the dark in the past? How have you helped them overcome this? Share your tips by tagging @bulb.usa in your posts