Let’s talk about night lights for babies and kids. When most people think about night lights they are thinking either little kids afraid of monsters or not wanting to trip over the piles of laundry going to the bathroom at night. Both are true, but how do these little lights affect our sleep?
First, let’s talk about how light affects our sleep or our circadian rhythm. Light can disturb natural melatonin (sleep hormone) production in our bodies. Even with those baby blues closed the light is detected and your brain gets confused about what time it is. As a result, your body doesn’t produce as much melatonin, and the cycle continues.
You may have heard in the media over the past few years how blue light can be bad for going off into dreamland. This is true and why if your kids are watching any TV in the evening it should generally be off within an hour before bedtime ( and teens turn in the phones). So if blue light is bad, is there any night light that is good? Yes, it turns out that red lights don’t have the same negative effects on your health as white lights do (sleep.org).
Night lights can also be helpful during toddlerhood and preschool age (peak about 2-5 years). Fear of the dark is quite common, especially at this age. By about 2-3 years most children are very engaged in the world of pretend and imagination, and they don’t fully understand the difference between fantasy and reality (zerotothree.org). To them, those bedtime books are coming alive! Give them some control by allowing your child to decide when they are ready to darken the bedroom.
All this being said I would only recommend a night light if your child is less afraid with one or if you need one on to check on the baby (feeding, change a diaper, etc. ). If it can be turned off for a portion of the night even better. Don’t assume it’s needed from the start, babies aren’t afraid of the dark (remember they were in a dark womb for 9 months). If you do add one to your registry one light that can be used early on is the hatch rest. It is a night light, sound machine, and time to rise clock all in one (also hatch rest plus can provide an audio monitor as well). I recommend if using this to try the red or orange light options (easily changed on app) and on one of the dimmest settings. See Instagram stories for more info on this in Cecelia’s room!
Happiest of holidays my followers! Do leave a night light on for Santa- or to catch a little sneaky boy or girl trying to get downstairs early!
