At night, it is easy to create a dark and cozy environment for your baby to drift off into sleep, but should babies take naps in the dark too?
Are you wondering if light plays a role at all in your babies’ sleep? Continue reading to find out.
In this blog we’ll talk about, when you can get away with having your baby not nap in a dark room, why napping in a dark room is so important, and also how to completely black out your child’s room for sleep.
Do Newborns Need to Nap in a Dark Room?
Before 8-12 weeks of age, you don’t want your children always napping in a dark room. You will be trying to correct day and night confusion. Newborns have an underdeveloped pineal gland; thus, they are not yet producing sleep hormones. Light exposure is the only thing helping them differentiate daytime vs. nighttime.
To help your newborns circadian rhythm development, the best thing you can do is keep them in the light during the day and in the dark at night. Once they are closer to 4 months old, we encourage a fully blacked out room for naps.
The Importance of your Baby Napping in a Dark Room
Darkness during naps sets your baby up for higher quality sleep. While it’s easy to create a dark environment at nighttime, you’ll want to try extra hard to darken your child’s room during the day for the reasons:
Reduced Distractions - A dark room minimizes distractions and stimulation making it easier for your baby to accept sleep. Babies are curious beings and they do get easily distracted! This variable is eliminated by having them nap in a dark room. This is also imperative when working with twins who are sharing a room.
More Restful Sleep- By keeping your child’s room dark for naps, you have a better chance of them sleeping for their entire naptime. Their sleep will be more restful as their pineal gland will be releasing melatonin into their bloodstream which leads to better sleep quality.
Circadian Rhythm- Exposure to natural light during the day and darkness for naps and nights helps synchronize your child’s body so that when practiced consistently, your child’s body will accept sleep during these times.
How do I Blackout my Baby’s Room for Naptime?
1) Blackout Shades: Hands down the #1 thing needed to create a dark environment for your child. It is very important that NO light is seeping through the shades/curtains. We want the room to be completely blacked out. Think “cave-like”. You can certainly go the aesthetically pleasing route and buy some nice black out curtains that match your room décor, or you could use the painter’s tape and black trash bag hack. It does not matter the method you use to cover the windows in your child’s room, what matters is that you achieve complete darkness. Our favorite portable black out shades are these:
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2) Under Door Draft Stoppers: Another great tool to darken your child’s room is using an under the door draft stopper. I love this one as it is easy to install and ensures no light is seeping in from outside the door. You could also just roll up a towel and put it underneath the doorway as well to achieve the same result.
3) Use a Slumberpod: The Slumberpod is a great product that completely blacks out your child’s pack and play. It’s a good product to have on hand if you plan on traveling and want to ensure a dark environment for your baby as it is a safe option that goes right over the pack & play. Use code babysleepconsultancy for a discount off your slumberpod!
4) Nap Somewhere else in the House: If you cannot black out your child’s room completely, you could explore having them nap in a pack & play somewhere else in the house that is already dark such as a large closet (don’t judge, I had one of my twins sleeping in a closet for months until I found the right curtains). This also works great while on vacation. As long as the environment is safe, you can put a pack and play almost anywhere! My children have napped in a pack & play in walk-in closets, bathrooms, home gyms and hallways before!
When paired with an age-appropriate schedule and consistency, having an optimal sleep environment can be a game changer and perhaps the missing piece to your child’s sleep puzzle!
The rooms’ lighting levels DO in fact impact your babies’ sleep patterns. When your baby naps in a dark room they have less distractions, get more restful sleep and their circadian rhythm lines up with when they should be sleeping.
We only suggest adding a red night light to your child’s room AFTER age two if they are asking for nightlight or expressing fears of the dark. It is proven that a dim red light does not impact circadian rhythm.
If you’re struggling with naps or anything sleep related be sure to book a free discovery call and learn more about how we help tired parents achieve the rest they need and deserve!
Stellina Ferri is the author of this article. Stellina is a certified pediatric sleep consultant and mom of three.
She supports families through the journey of better sleep as a consultant with Tweet Dreamzz Sleep Consulting. She lives in the Boston, MA area with her family.
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