There's been a lot of discussion all over the news media today about a new
study showing a link between the use of night-lights in bedrooms of children
under 2, and their risk of developing near-sightedness later on.  A very
strong correlation was found, with the lowest rates of near-sightedness
among children who slept in the dark, higher rates of near-sightedness among
those who slept with a night-light, and really high rates among those who
slept with a lamp on.

Yet another reason to co-sleep with your kids -- they don't need
night-lights because they aren't afraid of the dark, because you are there
with them.  Also, you the parent don't need a light on in the kids room to
avoid stepping on toys when you go in to check on them, or in response to
their cries.  You just open your eyes and look at them, because they are
right next to you.

The skeptical scientist in me, however, wonders if children who are already
having vision problems at an early age would tend to be more afraid of the
dark (because the pile of clothes on the chair really *does* look like a
monster to a near-sighted person) . . . and therefore that the causal arrow
goes from near-sightedness to night-light, rather than the other way around.
I know that when I finally got my first pair of glasses at age 10, it was a
MAJOR revelation, and in hindsight, it was apparent I had needed them since
at least age 5.

Kathy Dettwyler

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