Every nursery or child’s bedroom needs a night light. Baby Night Lights offers parents a way to turn their child’s personal snapshot into a custom photo night light. Three steps on Baby-NightLights.com makes this a simple process: you just upload a photo, crop the photo, and approve it. In about a week, you’ll receive your child’s picture mounted into a museum style night light frame. Each night light is lit by a 4-watt bulb and features a toggle on-off switch. This would make a great gift for new parents, as anyone can use a night light with their child’s photo on it (especially new parents, who often tend to wake up and stumble out of bed on the way to the baby’s room!). You can view these unique night lights at Baby-NightLights.com, where they range in price from $19.95 to $24.95.

These portable lights by Candeloo are perfect for kids to tote around with them or just to keep in their room as a night light. The SafeCharge system used in these Tooli lights means there are no exposed electrical contacts, as the lights use rechargeable batteries. These are great when your child is in the potty training stage and learning to wake up at night to use the bathroom. The Tooli provides a safe way for him to get from his bedroom to the bathroom, so the dark isn’t as scary. They are available in a variety of bright colors kids will like. You can view and purchase these unique lights at Vessel.com, where a set of two sell for $39.

I’m guessing that the children’s specialty nightlight market is huge, and Sylvania is one of its most recent entries. Their PalPODzzz LED Nightlight, which is shaped like a ladybug, provides soft, ambient light at night. It also has a removable flashlight and can act as an emergency back up light during power outages. Lights just make kids (and even some adults) feel safer at night. Why not choose one that fits in with the decor of your child’s room, or his preferences as well? You can purchase the PalPODzzz for $19.99 at Amazon.com.

Last summer, when magazines started reporting that Angeline Jolie and Brad Pitt had spent thousands of dollars on chandeliers for their twins’ nursery, moms everywhere took notice. I’d like to think I’m pretty up on baby gear, but I never would have thought about a chandelier for my then baby-to-be’s room. In all honesty, I still don’t think I would, but I have started to take more notice of them when browsing online. I will say that this Pink and Green Leaf and Flower Chandelier caught my eye. It isn’ t over-the-top in the way that many similar products are. I really like the color scheme as well. I think it would look great in an understated floral or garden themed nursery. The chandelier retails for a rather steep $298. You can purchase one at thefrogandtheprincess.com.

The Winnie the Pooh Musical Crib Light Projector actually does just as it promises; it helps our son fall asleep all on his own. We think that it is not the dreamy images that make him sleepy, as suggested by the manufacturer, but the spinning shapes and the loud “white noise” it makes while turning. It is not a quiet sleep tool at all but, luckily, that has turned out to be a positive as opposed to the expected negative. There are several sounds and music options on the projector, but since we ended up with two, I generally use the music while letting him watch the toy during play time and do without the music at sleep time.

You can choose to have the projector on with music or without it or you can have music only or lights and sounds or lights and images. It automatically shuts off after 10 minutes, which seems to be plenty of time to put baby to sleep and not too much overtime so batteries are wasted. Attach it to the crib or set it on a dresser or table or other surface; it works either way. Buy it for $29.98 on sale at netkidswear.com but if it works as well for you as it does for us, call it priceless. However, be warned—the images are not clear; they are fuzzy, “dreamy” pictures of Pooh and his friends.

One of my favorite toys as a little girl growing up in the 1970s and 80s was Hasbro’s Lite Brite. I thought it was so cool that you could put the little pegs into the board and create any design you wanted from light. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Lite Brites are still sold, and that there are so many varieties available now.

I like this Lite Brite Cube the best of the new Lite Brites I’ve seen. Kids can create 4 designs at a time on this four-sided cube. It comes with 400 pegs, two storage trays, 10 refill sheets, 8 design picture sheets, and 2 free form sheets, and a light bulb. This is one of those classic, expressive, imaginative toys that never goes out of style.

Recommended for ages 4 and up,you can purchase the Lite Brite Cube for $14.99 at Hasbro.com.

Most children go through a phase of being afraid of the dark. Sometimes it can come on suddenly, for no apparent reason. My son is going through such a phase now, which is why we placed an automatic night light in his room to help him to feel more comfortable at night. I really like this Twilight Ladybug Night Light, however. It does more than an ordinary night light. It projects images of stars onto the ceiling and walls of your child’s room. I have those stick-on, glow-in-the-dark stars on my son’s ceiling right now , but they only work if they absorb enough light before bedtime to glow in the dark. This ladybug is a much better idea.

The Twilight Ladybug can project blue, green, or ruby-colored stars, and also has a shell that lights up. It measures 10.5″ long x 8″ wide x 4.5″ high and has an automatic shut-off 45 minutes after you turn it on. That should be plenty of time for your little one to get to sleep amid the stars. The ladybug comes with 3 AAA batteries, and is recommended for children ages 3 and up. It costs just $29.95 at SlumberSounds.com. I’ll be purchasing this for my son’s comfort very soon.

Night lights are always a good idea for toddlers, and this Nocturnimals Fox Night Light Slumber Buddy by Manhattan Toy combines a night light and a soft, cuddly toy in one. Just press its paw and the fox’s belly glows with different colors for about four minutes. It’s a great way for your child to keep a night light with her in bed in case she needs it in the middle of the night. I think this would be a lifesaver during potty training, as your child could push the buddy’s paw and use her buddy to find her way to the bathroom during the middle of the night.

The Nocturnimals Fox Night Light is 9″ high and recommended for ages 3 and up. You can view and purchase it at geniusbabies.com, where it sells for $19.95.

The Sahara Lamp from CoCaLo Baby features fun animal prints and warm earth tones with bright accents and a combination of textured fabrics. A friendly baby tiger and elephant rest on the blocked base. The lamp has a 40 Watt light bulb maximum (light bulb not included).

This Sahara Lamp is actually part of the safari-themed baby nursery collection by CoCaLo which is quite elaborate. But if you’re choosing just one or two items for your baby’s nursery, you might consider this sweet Sahara Lamp. Baby animals are always a delight and the subtle colors and fabrics are very soothing and can be easily accessorized with any number of similar or contrasting color schemes.

The shade measures  6.5″ H x 4.5″ (top) - 9.75″ (bottom). The lamp costs $54.99 at All Childrens Furniture.

I like the simplicity of these darling animal lamps. They actually look like those small kitchen appliance covers you buy for the toaster or coffee makers. They especially look lightweight, nothing too bulky or heavy for baby’s room. And, they’re fun to look at, which is a help for children who have a hard time settling down at night.

The more I look at these Smaller Than a Breadbox Animal Lamps, the more I think they look like characters from a story book that just popped off the page. Turning on the animal lamp could become a signal to your child that it’s story time (followed by bed time) and even compliment a story on farm animals or other similar theme.

The Smaller Than A Breadbox Animal Lamp comes in Frog, Piggy, Puppy, Kitty and Monkey. It costs $20.00 at UncommonGoods.

I used to take my children, from a very early age, up to the Griffith Park Observatory several times a year to see the planatarium shows, to watch a lunar eclipse, and to climb to the roof of the observatory to the giant telescope.  One night we chased a comet across the city out into the desert just for a better view. What a night.

As parents we can pass onto our children our awe of the universe. With so many man-made things to distract them, we owe it to our children to open their eyes to the wonder of nature around us. A good way to start is right at home - where they live.

This Twilight Turtle is not just a fun, furry, night light but it projects a complete starry night sky onto the walls and ceiling of any room.  Spend a little extra night-time with your children and enjoy sharing and talking about the stars.  It also comes with an illustrated Star Guide. Price: $33.99 at rightstart.com.