I have a 5 month old that sleeps well during the night, but always struggled during the day. So we put him in similar conditions to what he has at night. We bought blackout-lined curtains, but they let light in at the side. So we bought a blackout roller blind from Ikea - still bits of light escape at the top and make the room 'dusk' instead of dark. So we bought one of those stick-on-with-suckers blinds and that has kept out all the light and he sleeps...well, like a baby! He now naps for 1.5 hours in the morning, 40 minutes to 1 hour at lunch and probably 40 minutes in the afternoon. And he is no longer the very unhappy baby he used to be when he cried incessantly.
Our only problem is: we are chained to the house. Whenever we go anywhere else that doesn't have total darkness, he won't drop off to sleep at all, no matter how tired he is - and then just cries continuously. It's a nightmare visiting friends. He will sleep in his car seat on the way there, but if it is just a 10 minute drive, that is not enough sleep and he becomes very fractious. Occasionally, he will drop off if I leave him in his car seat and rock that, but I fear it's bad for his back to leave him in a car seat for hours on end. (We want to continue using the blackouts for his night sleep, as it means he doesn't wake up with the 5am sunlight!)
So, any suggestions? Did anybody else have this crutch and manage to kick it? And at what age? Thanks.
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Blackout blinds - how do I stop?
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Clippedwings · 21/06/2011 10:00
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