Brenna was going to sleep at night great. We would finish with prayers, give hugs and then we wouldnt hear a peep out of her...unless she heard our movie, and wanted to come out. Then she began wanting to sleep with a blanket on her head. She would get so sweaty, so I picked out the lightest blanket that we had and would sneak in after she was asleep and take it off. Shane asked me if maybe she did it because she was scared of the dark. There were no other signs that she was scared so I passed it off.
Then last week she would throw tantrums as soon as the prayer was over. We assumed that it was because she was 2. She would quickly fall asleep. I was then talking with a mother in the ward that said that her age was about the time that her girls became scared of the dark. But still no definate signs that, that was what it was.
Then the other night I came it shortly after she went to bed and she was standing against the wall screaming. It was so sad. I took her and rocked her. As I was rocking her she kept saying that she wanted the blanket on her head. I told her that I would put it on when we are done being "soft". She kept crying for the blanket saying "head, head head" at the same time I noticed that her eyes were scanning the closet behind me. She was totally scared of the dark. It broke my heart. I put a lamp in her room and kept it on all night and she was better.
The last two days when it appears to be close to bedtime, she says over and over that she does not want to go "ni-night". She did that for an hour last night when we were beginning to go home from our parents house, and lasted until she went to sleep. We turned the lamp on and said our prayers and she went to bed with some mild crying. At least no more screaming.
***The solution to this problem turned out to be the combination of a night light plug next to her bed and 5 minutes of being "soft"...aka snuggling...before bedtime.
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