Settling for the Night and Afraid of the Dark?

Hi again Helen

I have a question related to the settling for the night routine. My daughter, soon to be eighteen months old, has all of sudden become very upset when we settle her for the night. She gets very excited when we tell her it is time for toothbrushing and to go to bed, and we play our own "laughing game", which up to now has been working just fine, but now everything has changed.

She still LOVES to have her teeth brushed as well as playing the laughing-game, but when we turn off the ligt in the nursery and I will go "good night" and close the door, it is all ruined and shes gets really upset (daddy stays in the nursery with her until she is asleep) ... could it be that she all of a sudden has become afraid of the dark?

I must admit, that there is nothing wrong during the night, maybe she just finds it more exciting to stay up late with us? It does not matter whether she is tired or not ... I thought you might have heard about it before??

Best regards from R