# Childhood Nightlights **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 29, 2020, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childhood-nightlights/848720 "2020-02-29T22:33:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2020, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childhood-nightlights/848720/1 "2020-02-29T22:33:41Z")
Did you have a nightlight as a kid? If so, do you remember what it looked like? Mine was a classic yelllow1960’s smiley face. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2020, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childhood-nightlights/848720/2 "2020-02-29T22:47:59Z")
We never had them, although my dad is a retired firefighter and they weren’t as safe back then as they are now. (We didn’t have electric blankets for the same reason.) However, they did get one when they got a cat! :rolleyes: Go figure. ---
**Author:** ![nonacetone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonacetone/32/2819_2.png) [@nonacetone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nonacetone)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2020, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childhood-nightlights/848720/3 "2020-02-29T22:49:32Z")
No. I wasn’t allowed to ‘waste electricity’ growing up. Good grief. I do use nightlights now, though. I seem to get really dizzy in the pitch darkness, and I’ll fall down, if I don’t have a little bit of light. I have no idea why, though. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2020, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childhood-nightlights/848720/4 "2020-02-29T22:53:33Z")
Don’t remember a night light when I was that young. Usually in more recent years it’s a light left on in another room, just so you’re not in the dark when you need to make a potty run. These days I have a dim plug-in in two rooms on the way to the bathroom. Couldn’t manage without them! ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2020, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childhood-nightlights/848720/5 "2020-03-01T00:48:37Z")
Mainly it was a tv left on till my dad turned it off. Also for some time I had a nightlight that used a Christmas light bulb, I had several colors to chose from and would switch them as I wanted. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2020, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childhood-nightlights/848720/6 "2020-03-01T00:49:59Z")
No. The light would have kept me awake. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2020, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childhood-nightlights/848720/7 "2020-03-01T01:01:56Z")
Scooby-doo. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2020, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childhood-nightlights/848720/8 "2020-03-01T01:21:52Z")
I don’t think I did, but I’m big on nighttime illumination now. The upstairs hallway has a dim LED light that is always on. The kitchen stove has a LED lamp in the vent hood that is always on. Lately, since switching to LEDs, I’ve tended to have the family room table lamp on 24x7. As for the bedroom, I have a high-intensity light from IKEA with a dimmer control that is halogen, not LED, and it’s been on almost 24x7 at a dim setting for nearly fifteen years now, sitting on top of the bed headboard that is also a bookshelf. I have spare bulbs but it doesn’t need them. My sleep is often intermittent and I sometimes need to find my tablet or Kindle Paperwhite in the middle of the night, and the dim overhead light is ideal. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2020, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childhood-nightlights/848720/9 "2020-03-01T02:26:01Z")
I was given a small candle, now called a [tealight](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tealight). ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2020, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childhood-nightlights/848720/10 "2020-03-01T02:33:44Z")
We had a nightlight in the hall so we kids wouldn’t fall down the stairs. I later got a nightlight in my room because I had a very active imagination, which wasn’t helped by my older siblings telling me ghost stories. Both my kids had nightlights. I don’t have a nightlight in my room now, but I have one in the main hall and in each bathroom. If kids feel better with a nightlight, they should have them, regardless of age. ---
**Author:** ![excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e8c25b/32.png) [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/excavating_for_a_mind)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2020, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childhood-nightlights/848720/11 "2020-03-01T02:45:25Z")
This thread would not be complete without at least a nod to TMBG “Birdhouse in Your Soul.” Like the Longines Symphonette, it doesn’t rest. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2020, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childhood-nightlights/848720/12 "2020-03-01T02:49:55Z")
I have no recollection of anything called a "nightlight, nor of fear of the dark. Usually fell asleep with the radio on, which had a lit dial. That was replaced by one with a red LED clock. According to Ngram, the usage of the word “nightlight” more than doubled from 1975 to 1990. > **[Google Books Ngram Viewer](https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=nightlight%2B&year_start=1900&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Cnightlight%3B%2Cc0#t1%3B%2Cnightlight%3B%2Cc0)** > > Google Books Ngram Viewer ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2020, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childhood-nightlights/848720/13 "2020-03-01T03:23:15Z")
Nope. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2020, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childhood-nightlights/848720/14 "2020-03-01T03:25:09Z")
I used a nightlight for a really long time, maybe up to high school, as I was simply afraid of sleeping in the dark. No special characters or anything. It was a plain household nightlight. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2020, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childhood-nightlights/848720/15 "2020-03-01T04:36:57Z")
We presently use those motion-activated “angel lights.” We ran into a problem with them, when our kids came to visit. The Daughter and the Son-in-law were sleeping on the hide-a-bed in the living room. Mr VOW forgot to deactivate the lights in that room. The Son-in-law said every time he rolled over, he felt like an inmate trying to escape from prison! ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2020, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childhood-nightlights/848720/16 "2020-03-01T06:22:22Z")
We had a huge plastic squirrel. Sat in the middle of our bedroom, with a bulb inside so it glowed. But only dimly because the plastic was so thick. But that’s not the interesting part… I fell asleep to that smell of hot plastic every night of my childhood. Triggers intense nostalgia whenever I smell that (usually has to be thick, old school plastic …that’s in danger of overheating). ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2020, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childhood-nightlights/848720/17 "2020-03-01T07:52:07Z")
The lil’wrekkers nursery was a circus theme. (Don’t laugh, I saw it on a home improvement show) Someone gave her a clown lamp. Kinda cute in the daytime. It had a nightlight setting. It’s huge red nose glowed. Creeped me right out. I got rid of that pretty early on in her infancy. Didn’t wanna scare the kid, you know. She had a regular plug in the wall plate night light after that. ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2020, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childhood-nightlights/848720/18 "2020-03-01T09:28:38Z")
Similar to [this](https://www.etsy.com/listing/720507036/childs-nursery-3-way-table-lamp-night?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=jack+and+jill+lamp&ref=sr_gallery-1-3) lamp, it was a 3 way table lamp, which would have either the top light (60 watt), both lights or just the little light, which was about the size of Christmas bulb (similar to a 7 watt frosted bulb). The Christmas bulb was covered by a mini teepee, made of straw or something similar and there was a little Native American figure on the stand. When I was 6 I told my parents I was a big girl and didn’t need the nightlight anymore. The lamp stayed until my mom redecorated my bedroom when I was 10. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2020, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childhood-nightlights/848720/19 "2020-03-01T12:23:49Z")
There was a street light across the road from the house where I grew up, so my room got some light from that. And my mom put a plain night light in the bathroom, then left the door open so we could find our way if needed. In our house now, there are multiple lights - each bathroom has a very dim light - just enough so you can find the toilet. There’s a photo-sensitive LED in the hallway, so it’s always lit when it’s dark. And our stove has a night setting with a dim light between the hours I select. That one was especially nice when I was working and getting up in the dark of the morning - I didn’t have to grope my way to the light switch! Plus, again, our bedroom is illuminated from outside - the neighbor has a very bright porch light that stays on all night. I don’t care enough to get room-darkening drapes, but some nights, it really annoys me! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2020, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childhood-nightlights/848720/20 "2020-03-01T17:44:38Z")
Presently I find my way to the bathroom at night by the little glows of all our charging electronics. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childhood-nightlights/848720.md?page=2)