Fear of the dark?

These past few days in Austin have been really eye opening with Hannah and her “issues.” 

On the drive over here, Hannah started crying and starting to hyperventilate again.  It was only about 30 minutes into our 4-hour drive.  I started getting nervous, but I was able to calm her down once Daddy put the inside car lights on (while we were driving) so I could find her pacifier. 

Then, I noticed something.  Hannah, who was exhausted and needing to sleep, did not like being in the dark at all.  Once the car dome light on her side went on, she calmed down.  So, we left it on as we continued to drive.  No more crying and no more hyperventilating.   She fell asleep, and we turned the light off.  Something would wake her up, and she’d start that crying again.  Turn the light on, and she would calm down.

We realized something after this.  Hannah has NEVER gone to sleep with the lights off before.  She has always fallen asleep in our bed and had been transferred to her crib.  Even in her room, she has night lights on in there. 

It seems that Hannah is scared of the dark perhaps.  It makes sense since it is when it is dark that she really starts that gasping crying.  Both times it happened in the car, it was dark outside.  It didn’t happen last weekend when we made the long drive over to celebrate Greyson’s law, possibly because it was daylight. 

The big test will be on the way home tomorrow.  We will be going home, a 4-hour drive, during the day.

I hope that this is the case ONLY from the standpoint that we can control how much time she is in the dark by always having a little light with us or use the car dome light on her side.  We may also get a low-voltage bulb for her lamp in her room, as this may help us during the night too when she gets restless and can’t fall back to sleep (so we have to get up to get her the paci because she doesn’t see it and won’t try to find it).