I used to be  terrified of the dark when I was a kid. I still am not a fan of going to sleep in pitch black. 

It's common for young children to be afraid of the dark, or of the boogeyman and monsters under the bed. And with Halloween approaching, we've got lots of scary movies on our tv and it probably has your child's imagination running wild at night. We also have darkness that falls upon us even earlier now that summer is over.

Thanks to canada.com, here are some tips you may want to use to help your child cure their fear of the dark:

1. Slowly desensitize your little one to the dark. Go together to pick out a night-light, preferably one with different settings. Your child may have to sleep with the overhead light on for a while, but dim it over time until all that's needed to feel safe is a night-light on its lowest setting, or no light at all.

2. Minimize exposure to scary movies, TV shows, even rides at Disneyland (the Pirates of the Caribbean ride is scary to a three-year-old!).

3. Show your child you are on his side -- the dark can be scary -- but be sure to enlist his help in overcoming the fear.

4. If your child can articulate exactly what she's afraid of at night (monsters, bats, spiders, etc.), come up with a plan to make the house safe. Spritz "monster spray" (water mixed with a tablespoon of lemon juice or vanilla extract, poured into a spray bottle) under the bed, tape windows to keep the bats out, put an owl stuffie in the room to eat spiders.