Night Light

[Davros]

Has anyone got a good recommendation for a night light? I know its better not to have one but my autistic son won't sleep without a light of some sort on. I've looked at the one in GLTC which doesn't get hot and can be made brighter or dimmer and fade gradually all together. Its £19.99 + P&P so I just want to make sure I'm getting the best one I can find without having to actually go to a shop. Thanks.

We have the night light you are talking about and it's really good, doesn't get hot and is bright enough (at max) to see what's going on, but at it's lowest is just a reassuring glow.

When you buy replacement bulbs, buy the 25W SES ones designed for ovens as the filament is less likely to get damaged (and the bulb blow)if/when the lamp gets knocked over!

Davros, ds always had main light on his room until I bought him one of the moon lights from Ikea. Just enough light for him to read by and not too bright either. I always felt that it had to effect his sleep having the big light on. Only around £8. It doesn't get too hot either. Although of course you would have to go to the shop for it.

Re: the GLTC one - Would your ds get distressed if he woke up during the night with no light?

Hope that is some help!

DS1 has the star version of the Ikea light with a low energy bulb in it. It doesn't get hot (but is high enough that this is not a problem) and gives him enough light to see by. The switch is on the flex so he can turn it on and off by himself - not sure if this is a plus point or not for your son!

Yes Rebi, my son does get upset if he wakes up and its pitch black and then I get upset as I have to get up!! Plugs and switches are OK for him now although at one time I thought I'd never say that. There was some research recently that showed that having a light on during sleep, no matter how low and even though your eyes are closed, is detrimental to vision. I'm not sure how detrimental but we can't manage without one at the moment. I'll wait to see if I get any more answers and then decide. Thanks everyone as always.

Davros, Argos have 3 wall-fixed plug-in kids' lights, a teddy face, a star face and a football - p 324 in the new catalogue or here , here and here (can't find them all on one page!).

They are £8.99 or £9.99, the first 2 require a SES candle bulb - max 40w but you could use the weakest avilable as a night light. The other is a large ES bulb.

HTH!

I used to use a lava lamp for when DD was first born - they look lovely. It gave the room a warm glow and looked fab. Can't keep those on all night though so how about fairy lights? Urchin do red heart shaped 'fairy' lights, he might like them?? they are about £16 max.

Might he feel differently about the dark if he knew the light was under his control and he could switch it on whenever he wanted to?

Thanks everyone, especially Janh for links. Now have to think about various ideas and decide. Quite like the fairly lights idea and the Argos ones are fun.......doh! THis was supposed to be simple!

Davros, why is it better not to have one? I've never heard that.

I'd heard it before but I've just found this on a website which implies the link is rubbish:

"An article appeared in the Boston Herald titled "New Studies Say Nightlights don't make Kids Nearsighted". In a previous study, scientists determined that children who slept with lights on in their bedroom developed nearsightedness at a higher rate than children who slept in the dark. Two new studies suggest heredity is what is actually causing both the nearsightedness and the lights to on in the first place. This third variable is effecting both the independent (lights) and the dependent (nearsighted). Parents who have bad eyes have more children with bad eyes and are also more likely to leave lights on because they can't see well themselves. By only testing the relationship between lights and children's eyesight, an important variable was left out of the model and cause and effect was not established. "

I have fairy lights for DS. the have jungle animals on. I got them from Natural World in Cheltenham. don't know if they are anywhere else &can't remember who made them. sorry. they had other themes though.
will try & find out if you like

For some reason I'm a complete dimwit and can't get the links to work but Urchin's website is www.urchin.co.uk and the reference number for thelights I was thinking about is 77605.
have a look at this

OMG there's hope for me yet - the link worked!

Davros, the fairy lights do sound lovely. If he only needs light for comfort and reassurance (?) they would be great.

Soupie, my DDs had a (very dim) nightlight and both of them are very short-sighted, but then so am I (worse than them) - I did wonder about the heredity aspect of it!

Then again, the DSs are much less short-sighted and they didn't have a nightlight at all...but they are boys, maybe that makes a difference?

I'm so shocked to hear about these potential negative effects of nightlights. It just never occurred to me, and no one ever told me about this. We've always had a night light - so I could see my way into DD's room and breastfeed her in the middle of the night. I'm extremely nearsighted and so is DH, so I think it is very likely that DD will be too, with or without a nightlight.

I use a globe that lights up inside, my dh bought it several years ago and it just seemed appropriate for ds twins (aged 19 month.)

We only use it occassionally and switch it off when we go to bed.