SEASON 4 EPISODE 6 Babies DO sleep better in the dark: A case for blackout blinds

Ensuring your little one's sleep environment is conducive for good quality sleep is VERY important if your goal is to maximize your little one's sleep and teach them how to sleep like a champ.  I'm always getting questions about blackout blinds and whether they're a necessary addition to their little one's nursery.  Spoiler alert- my answer to this question is always "YES!"  Humans sleep best in dark, quiet rooms.  Babies and young children are no different!

In this podcast episode, I'll explain why our little ones sleep better in the dark, the various benefits of blackout blinds for healthy sleep, and why you can't "teach" your little one to be flexible and sleep in a brightly-lit room.  Enjoy!

Want to get your little one consistently sleeping 11-12 hours at night so you can be a functioning human?  Join my FREE training HERE: https://mysleepingbaby.ac-page.com/registration-page-v-2   

• Free sleep chart download - https://mysleepingbaby.ac-page.com/sleep-chart-landing-page
• Free sleep masterclass- https://mysleepingbaby.ac-page.com/registration-page-v-2
• Podcast episode on transitioning from a crib to a bed- https://mysleepingbaby.com/when-should-you-transition-your-little-one-from-a-crib-to-a-bed/

Transcript

Eva (00:04):

Hey there, you’re listening to the My Sleeping Baby podcast, which is all about baby and child sleep. I’m so excited to teach you how you can get your little ones sleeping so that you can sleep too and enjoy parenthood to its fullest. I’m Eva Klein, your resident’s sleep expert, mom of three, founder of the Sleep Bible online coaching program, and lover of all things sleep and motherhood. If you’re looking for tangible solutions for your little one sleep woes or you simply want to learn more, this podcast is for you. For more information, check out mysleepingbaby.com and you can follow me on Instagram and Facebook @mysleepingbaby, and you can follow me on Instagram and Facebook at My Sleeping Baby.
(00:46)
All right, welcome back to the show. Today we're gonna be talking all about blackout blinds and why babies sleep so much better in dark rooms. I am a huge proponent of black op lion for babies, toddlers, preschoolers, and even school age kids because the reality is that we all sleep so much better in a dark room. So today I wanna talk about the science behind sleeping better in a dark room, why blackout blinds in particular can be such a huge addition to your little one's sleep environment and why you shouldn't be worried about teaching your little one to be a flexible sleeper. So let's back up a second and talk about the basic science behind sleep and our body's exposure to light and darkness. So in a nutshell, when we are exposed to natural or even artificial light, it helps our circadian rhythm otherwise known as our biological clocks, to figure out when it's time to wake up and when it's time to go to sleep.
(01:57)
And so when we are in a really dark room, darkness helps our bodies produce more melatonin, making it easier to fall asleep. Now, for those of us who are adults who are going to sleep well after the sun has set and are waking up either when the sun is rising or shortly after exposure to light when it's time to go to sleep, isn't usually such of a big issue. The problem is when you have a little one who either has daytime sleep requirements and needs to be napping during the day when it is, uh, bright and sunny outside, as well as if you have a little one that needs to be going to sleep before the sun has set. Because when our little ones are getting exposed to all this natural sunlight during nap time or bedtime, it's going to suppress your little one's production of melatonin, making it much, much harder for them to settle and go to sleep.
(02:58)
So why do blackout lines and dark rooms help our babies and toddlers and preschoolers sleep well? Well, I can give you five really big reasons. Number one, in case it wasn't obvious, those blackout lines are going to help your little ones body produce optimal levels of melatonin, right? Melatonin is that sleepy hormone produced by our bodies in response to darkness, helping us get tired and fall asleep. And when you've got blackout blinds in your little one's room and it creates a really dark environment, it signals to their brain to produce melatonin, making it much easier for them to fall asleep and stay asleep. The second really big reason is that it reduces external stimuli. You see babies and young children can get very stimulated by their environment and surroundings and can get very distracted. And black o blinds effectively just block out all of that external stimuli like streetlights, headlights, the rising sun, the toys in your little one's room, and it ends up helping to really create a calm and soothing sleep environment.
(04:07)
And so when you minimize distractions in your little one's room, it makes it so much easier for them to fall asleep and stay asleep for longer periods. So that's reason number two. Reason number three is that black op lines can contribute to a relaxing and consistent bedtime routine. As you all know, babies and toddlers and preschoolers really thrive on routines, and you all know that having that consistent bedtime routine is going to help cue your little one's brain that sleep time is coming. And so when you've got blackout lines as part of that routine, you can literally, uh, include closing those blinds as the last step or one of those last steps to your little one's routine, helping to contribute to that predictable sleep routine, ensuring that your little one's room remains dark regardless of the time of year or season. And so when your little one has that association seeing you close those blinds or curtains, uh, they can then learn that those closing those curtains means that it is time for them to settle and go to sleep.
(05:17)
Reason number four, that blackout lines are so important for your little one's sleep is because they help really improve daytime sleep. Naps are crucial because if your little one needs to be napping well during the day and they're not getting enough daytime sleep, they're gonna become overtired. And when the room is too light, it can make it much, much harder for your little one to fall asleep and stay asleep for appropriate periods of time. And so unfortunately, when your little one's room is too light, it can trigger this negative sleep cycle, this negative downward spiral where the room is too light, which then means that your little one doesn't nap as well as he needs to be, which then means he is overtired from not napping enough, which then makes it harder for him to fall asleep at bedtime. And it can even cause him to wake up at night because he is so unsettled and restless from being overtired from not napping enough during the day.
(06:17)
And so having that really dark room because of those blackout lines encourages your little one's body to produce ample amounts of melatonin during the day when it is nap time, resulting in better naps, longer naps, more restorative naps, which can then eliminate or at least really minimize or decrease the amount of over tiredness that your little one is dealing with from daytime sleep that isn't so great. The fifth big reason as to why blackout wine are so crucial for your little one's room is because they will make for an easier and earlier bedtime for you and your little one. Remember, your little one is often going to be due to go to sleep before the sun has set, especially in those spring and summer months where the sun isn't setting until eight, nine or 10 o'clock. And if your little one needs to go to sleep for seven or eight o'clock, their room might be completely bright at that hour, making it much, much harder for them to settle down for the night.
(07:22)
Again, remember, all of that natural sunlight is gonna tell your little one's body not to begin producing melatonin cause there is all this light coming in. So you're going to want to make sure that their room is really dark despite the fact that it is brightly lit outside. I can't tell you how common I see the following scenario where you, a parent has a baby or a child who was otherwise sleeping really, really well, and then springtime comes around and suddenly now that there is so much more natural sunlight coming into their little one's room, their little one is now refusing to go to sleep and fighting bedtime and telling them that they're not tired. Or if it's a baby just taking significantly longer to fall asleep than they usually do. And so when I tell these parents to install blackout blind, suddenly this problem goes away.
(08:20)
Why? Because we all sleep better <laugh> in darker rooms. Now, there are a few really important things that I want you to know about using blackout blinds effectively. First of all, make sure that you are measuring your windows accurately. You wanna make sure that these blinds fit the entire window to get you maximum coverage. You don't want there to be any gaps for light to be able to seep in. Here's the thing, on a scale of one to 10, if let's say 10 is pitch black and a one is a bright sunny day, you want the room's darkness level to be an eight and a half to a nine outta 10 during daytime hours. And so it doesn't mean there has to be total complete darkness here, but you still want your little one's room to be very, very dark. And so this means, in my experience, usually one blackout product is not enough.
(09:17)
One roller blind or blackout curtain will likely get you to about a five outta 10. And so you're going to want to combine two blackout products together, a blackout roller blind along with a blackout curtain on top, not room darkening, blackout <laugh>. There is a difference. The only exception to this is when the window in your little one's room is really, really small or maybe it backs onto another house or there's a tree right in front of it, obstructing most of the natural sunlight from coming in, then maybe one product will be enough. Otherwise you're going to need to. But if you're really, really tired, don't bother running to Home Depot or Ikea or all over the place. Instead, just temporarily stick some garbage bags or tinfoil or blackout paper on the windows and d I y yourself a really dark room until you are no longer sleep deprived.
(10:11)
And then you can figure out a more long-term solution. Now, this also means that you can use a very dim nightlight for your little one's room if you have a toddler or a preschooler who's afraid of the dark, or if you have a baby that is still waking up to eat at night and you wanna be able to see your way around the room, a really, really dim nightlight is totally fine. You might even wanna stick a diaper box in front of it so that it's blocks off most of the glare. Because from what I have seen, a lot of these nightlights can really illuminate the room. The only time that you don't wanna be using blackout lines is during those first few weeks of your newborn's life when they might be experiencing what's known as day night confusion, where they are not born with a biological clock, knowing the difference between daytime and nighttime.
(11:00)
So during that very short period of time, you might wanna have your little ones sleeping in a very bright room. But then once they really begin to understand the difference between day and night, having them napping well during the day is gonna be important. Now, I wanna address a really big question that so many parents have, and it's a good one. They'll say to me, but Eva, I want my baby to learn how to sleep anywhere. I want him to be flexible and be able to go with the flow. And what about when we're traveling? What are we gonna do when we're on vacation? And we don't have three layers of black op lions in our Airbnb, so I get it. I completely understand your hesitation to get your little one used to sleeping in these perfect conditions. But here's how I would respond to that.
(11:49)
First of all, teaching a baby how to sleep anywhere is actually a myth. There is no such thing as being able to teach a baby to sleep in a not so ideal environment. No different than how you really cannot teach an adult to sleep in a not so ideal environment. Either they can do it or they can't. Either you've got a baby that can sleep really well in the stroller on the go while you're out running errands, or you don't, either you have a baby or a child that can fall asleep really nicely in a brightly lit room with just regular shutters on the window, or you don't. This is sort of no different than my sister and I as adults. My sister and I, we were born and raised in the same home, same environment, same parents, same everything. And yet she is that adult who can sleep eight hours straight on a plane, no problem.
(12:43)
Whereas I am that adult who is not gonna sleep a wink on a plane unless you give me a general anesthetic. Otherwise, I need to be horizontal in my dark, quiet room without tons of interruption. Otherwise, I am not gonna sleep. Whether or not your baby or child can sleep with tons of outside distraction really comes down to his temperament and his inherent ability to be flexible with his sleep environment. If your little one is unable to sleep well in an environment that isn't optimal, there is not much that you can do about it. And so my biggest recommendation if that is you, is to simply respect your baby's need to sleep in a dark quiet room and not fight it anymore because you need your sleep just as much as your little one does. And then the other thing that I will say about traveling is don't worry about that either.
(13:37)
Even if you are an avid traveler, you don't need to be worried about teaching your little one to sleep well when you are out and about because as I said, first of all, there is no such thing as being able to teach your little one to sleep in a brightly lit room. Either they can do it or they can't. Even if you are away for four months of the year, you are that avid of a traveler. It still means that the vast majority of the time, you know, eight of those 12 months, your little one is going to be sleeping in their crib at home. And so you want to be prioritizing your little one's sleep environment when he's home and worry about those vacations as they come. The last thing that you wanna be doing is sacrificing your little one's sleep during those eight months of the year with the hope that your little one will be able to sleep anywhere you go during those four months of vacation time.
(14:28)
And by the way, there are travel blackout lines that you can get that will attach to the window with suction cups in case you are concerned that wherever you are staying is not gonna be dark enough. There is still a way to be able to figure this out for you. So to summarize, if your goal is to be able to maximize your little one's sleep as much as possible, creating a conducive sleep environment for your little one is crucial. And a really big aspect of that is ensuring that your little one's room is dark because we know how much better we all sleep in dark rooms. And the best part about this sleep tip for you all is that it is easy. All you need to do is just open up your pantry and grab some garbage bags for now and then boom, your little one's room will be an optimal level of darkness, which I'm telling you is hugely beneficial across the board. You will thank me for this one <laugh>. I hope that this was helpful and that you all have a wonderful day. Thanks again.
(15:38)
Thank you everyone for listening, and I hope you all have a wonderful day. Thank you so much for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review and share this episode with a friend who can benefit from it. I also love hearing from my listener, so feel free to DM me on Instagram at my sleeping baby or send me an email at eva@mysleepingbaby.com. Until next time, have a wonderful restful nights.