sleeping with the light on - how can i wean dd off this?

[olivo]

my dd is 2.3, for the last couple of weeks, she has woken in the night and insisted that we open her door and put the landing light on. this also conincided with her having some medication that disturbed her sleep.she slept through most of the time before. for about the last 6 months she has slept with a nightlight, very low orange glow. I tried swapping this for a princess nightlight (her current favourite!) on the condition we didnt have the big light on. she likes the ittle light but still wants the landing one on with her door open.
I have tried to get her out of this, putting the light off when she has gone to sleep but she wakes in the night and shouts till i go and pout it on. I am at the point now where we are so desperate for a decent night's sleep that i am thinking of just leaving it on and the door open all the time.
SHould i do this for all our sakes, or should i stick to my guns and try and 'wean her off it'?

sorry this is so long - any advice would be welcome.

I'd say wean her off it. I had this problem when I was little, I wouldn't let my parents turn the light off.
I only started sleeping in the dark about 2 years ago when dp moved in. I was 24.

littleboyblue. i did too until i was about 16! have managed to convince her that the upstairs light is broken today so have left the downstairs one on and her door open. not sure if it will fool her in the middle of the night though!
i just really need a full night's sleep as i am unwell again and dh is grumpy as hell!!

i think it is a developmental thing ...

DS started with this about a month or so ago and so have 2 of my friends' toddlers

they are so much more aware and "scared" of things

we have the light on ... DS gets v upset if we turn it off

like everything else it is a phase and will pass

caprica - that's part of the problem - at the moment, i'm not sure. the meds she was on were causing some sort of bad dreams - she would wake up saying there were alsorts of things she was scared of, in her room. she is no longer taking them but i dont know if she is still scared or wants the attention. she someitmes tries everything in the night - mummy's bed (she has only slept there an odd time!), cuddles, toilet etc etc.
that's why i thought having a nightlight would help as she could see the princesses.

I would never leave her if she was scared but i really don't want to her to depend on a light as there wont necessarily be one when we are in other places.

sorry, ruby, x posts. it is kind of good to know it is dev. maybe i'll jsut run with having it on and see if we can get some sleep!

olivo - i am sure it will pass

the one night we turned the light off when we went to bed, DS woke at 4.45 am bellowing for it to be turned back on!

we bought a low energy lightbulb so at least we aren't increasing our carbon footprint as well

ah, your ds sounds just like my dd, ruby.
for all our sanity, it looks like the light stays on for a few nights at least. maybe once she is sleeping through again we can try without it.
still cursing that stupid medicine which I think started it all!!

btw, forgot to say thanks !

What's wrong with leaving it on?

nothing when we are at home, but it's not something i want her to get used to. i used to have one when i was younger and spent nights away from home in total fear when i couldnt have a light on.
oh, and its a pain for us - I'm a pitch black sleeper!

I was scared of the dark for years, always had a light on. Was a bit embarassing on sleepover-type occasions though, yes, it's all coming back to me now

i can cope if its a phase, as ruby syas, but if it having it on for now is going to make her 'dependent' on it for years, i don't want to go there!!

I don't have a problem with them reading in bed or having the light on all night, as long as they're quiet and not disturbing sibs.

I don't object to leaving the landing light on, but I don't allow a light to be left on in the bedroom, iirc it disturbs their sleep and prevents them from reaching the level of deep sleep required for total rest for the body.

I would just leave it on.

In our house, landing light would annoy DH, so the girls have a night light in their room - it's quite a bright one, a bedside lamp rather than a nightlight. They seem to sleep pretty deeply none the less

Dim nightlights seem to be ok, but a lamp left on can reset your sleep cycle if eyes open even briefly, particularly in the REM stage.

last night worked with the downstairs light on but she was still up at 5.45 (this is a new thing too!). tonight we will try the downstairs light again, and if we get a decent sleep, i'm going to try turning it off when i go to bed tomorrow night.