ds is scared of the dark-what do i do??

[maisystar]

oh bless him

he is genuinely scared at bedtime, wants me to stay with him(this has been for the last 3 nights).

he has a night light, the bedroom door is open, the landing light on. i tried sitting in the bathroom(next to his room) tonight but that didn't work.

he just wants me to stay with him which i don't mind if it's a stage and won't last forever but don't want it to turn into a habit.

How old is he?

Could you take him out and pick a toy/teddy that he could have with him to take to bed. If you explain that the toy/teddy would go to bed with him instead of you IYKWIM.

It worked for someone I knew. They explained that is what they would do one day and what it was for and he really enjoyed going out and picking the teddy. It was quite a big teddy by all accounts but she didn't spend a fortune.

he's 4 1/2, already has a special bear(has had it since he was 9 months old) and a b-bye(yellow rag!).

this started 3 nights ago, until then he just went straight to sleep on his own.