A large part of a child’s early education is sound recognition. There are a million books, videos, songs, and other media that tell children what sound something makes.
A cow goes “moo!”
A bee goes “buzz!”
A car goes “vroom!”
And on, and on, and on.
All of this media that presents sound shows an image along with the sound, as to easily recognize what the thing making the sound looks like. But now what happens when there is a noise, but you can’t see what made it? Little scary for the first few times. Now add in that it’s dark, you can’t see what made the noise, and maybe you have never heard this noise before. As an adult, we have the skills to rationalize and eventually come to terms with what made the noise, but children do not have the skills to do that.
It’s no secret that children have much more vast imaginations than adults, this can assist in being scared of the dark. Something as simple as a shirt falling off the hanger in the closet can suddenly turn into a 10 eyed, 4 legged beast coming to eat them.
While verbal encouragement and debunking these noises for kids may be a temporary solution, there will continue to be a fear and the need for confidence and slow problem-solving learning to help kids be successful in overcoming their fear of the unknown sounds at night.
Some common solutions for helping overcome fears of sounds at night include but are not limited to: nightlights, helping them identify the sounds, and white noise machines.
Nightlights
The simplest of solutions, add some light to your child’s room to keep their mind from wandering. Being able to see around you when hearing a sound helps settle nerves and go back to relaxing to sleep for the night.
Identifying the Sounds
Helping a child identify sounds helps them start making logical connections and introduces problem-solving.
White Noise Machine
White noise machines are great tools for a variety of spaces, from protecting privacy at doctor offices to just making a calm sound to sleep to. Using a white noise machine will help cover other noises and make the need to worry disappear.
In conclusion, children scared of noises at night need support and skills to be able to begin distinguishing sounds and eliminating the fear of what their imagination comes up with.
