How can I help my 8 year old son to not be scared of the dark?

[ButtonWex]

I have two children, a 6 year old son and an 8 year old son. My 6 year old goes to bed every night very easily. My 8 year old is extremely afraid of the dark, and had problems going to sleep every night. I have given him 2 night lights, stuffed animals, and expressed to him that nothing is going to hurt him, but it doesn't help. What can I do to help him not be afraid of the dark?

[highpriority4]

I agree with Margypops...he will outgrow it.  I have an almost 8 year old son who is TERRIFIED of tornados.  He is very interested in all different types of weather and he reads books, and watches learning shows about the weather, which in turn has given him "too" much knowledge of storms and such, which is the reason why he is scared I believe.  We haven't had any really good storms yet this spring, but what I am thinking about doing is sitting with both of my boys (since my oldest is so scared of storms, it makes my youngest anxious about them too) in our garage during a storm and just watching it with them, talking to them about it, and hopefully that will help to curb their fears a little.  Maybe you could try doing this with your son as well, sit with both of your children in the dark for a little while one night and just talk about it, as sort of proof that its not so scary after all.  It may help....good luck!

~*~Amy~*~

[margypops]

Does he give you any indication of reason he is afraid, many children are,and outgrow it.Can anything have upset him ,would he have seen any scary movie , does he visit or stay with other members of the family  who may talk to him ...He will outgrow it , good luck