Some say your baby's room should be bright during the day to avoid confusion during the day/night, while others say a darkened room would help your baby sleep better. Who is right ? This article discusses whether your baby's room should be light or dark at nap time and why.
Light affects your baby's internal clock
It is true that your baby can be disturbed day or night if left in the dark for too long. Indeed, it is the light or the sun that stimulates our eyes and "regulates" our internal clock to know if we should be awake or asleep. Whether your eyes are closed and it's dark in your room, even when it's 11 a.m., or whether you're in a bright place or staring at a computer screen at 3 a.m. morning can "trick" your body into thinking it should sleep during the day and not at night.
This obviously does not happen overnight and it remains more or less difficult depending on the person. For several years my mother was a night nurse and although she is retired she still has trouble sleeping at night and not during the day.
But, what's the deal with your child's naps?
A disturbed sleep pattern during pregnancy
It is very important that day and night with your newborn are clearly defined. He was rocked by your movements during the day and woke up at night while he was in your belly (I'm sure you remember that). And, if you don't show their internal clock that it's really the other way around, you risk waking up with a very awake baby at all hours of the day and night, even if there are brief moments of tranquility. You will be much more tired than parents who get up every two or three hours to feed at night.
In this article you will learn how to set up a good sleep pattern for your baby.
But, once your child has had a clearly divided sleep between day and night and your child is no longer a newborn, a darkened nursery will do wonders for your baby's nap time!
Darken rooms for naps as baby grows
For the same reason that the light establishes that your baby must be awake. It can be difficult for your baby to sleep in a bright room when he becomes more social (which starts around 6 weeks when he can smile at you!). Especially if you're like most parents who want the nursery to be a welcoming and relaxing place for your child and decorate it as such, there's so much to look at. For discerning children who can find the slightest thing to amuse themselves with, sleeping in a bright bedroom can be extremely difficult.
In fact, my eldest son couldn't even have a night light until he was a toddler! He was too young to be afraid of the dark and was used to the darkness in my stomach, so taking his nightlight away from him improved his nighttime sleep and room darkening blinds (or you may prefer curtains) l helped to take naps and not wake up too early in the morning.
But what if your baby is taking too many naps?
Most people who visit this site don't necessarily have this problem (babies and young children need up to three hours of sleep during the day to get a long nap!), but there is no rules that say you can't open the blinds or the curtains and fake the sunrise while she's napping.
After your baby has had a nap of at least an hour, you can let in some light to wake him up naturally during his next sleep cycle. It's arguable that "napping too much" can "steal" the night's sleep, but in general, this isn't a problem for most people. Most people want to know how to lengthen naps in the first place!
Here are some articles that might interest you:
- Does your baby sleep too much? I explain everything to you
- How many naps does your baby or toddler really need?
- Where can babies sleep?
I hope this article has answered some of your questions.
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