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Original poster

How do I blackout a cotbed?

145 replies

OoohOnly90CaloriesIllhave10 · 21/08/2019 12:08

We are living in a house that's temporary. But the whole side of it is a window. You have to climb a ladder to reach the top so it's impossible to use a blackout blind.
We are here for a few months and I need to make the room darker.

With the best will in the world, we cannot put him in another room, there is no room to do so.

His sleep is horrific but I've got a plan with a sleep consultant, it's going to cost me hundreds so I need to get this right.

He has a cot bed, how can I make his small space blacked out for this sleep training (not CC) to work?

There is a black out cover for a travel cot. But that means buying a travel cot and £50 for the travel cot cover which I will do if I have to but I'd rather not spend even more.

Is there anything I can use to black out my baby's cotbed itself?

OP posts:
Original poster
OoohOnly90CaloriesIllhave10 · 21/08/2019 12:45

If you’re moving very soon can you wait on the sleep consultant?

That was the plan. But our vendor is on the verge of causing our whole chain to collapse so it looks like we're going to be here for a few more months while we start from scratch. I've got to go back to work soon and he wakes every 15 mins

OP posts:
Original poster
OoohOnly90CaloriesIllhave10 · 21/08/2019 12:46

A garden umbrella I like that idea we have two!!

OP posts:
CassianAndor · 21/08/2019 12:50

I really think the umbrella thing cuts off too much air.

Stick to sorting the window, not the cot.

(As an adult I would hate a window like this, I need dark to sleep properly!)

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Original poster
OoohOnly90CaloriesIllhave10 · 21/08/2019 12:59

I don't sleep during the day, I go to sleep when it's dark so it doesn't bother me.

It's lovely having such a light room during the day though!

OP posts:
CassianAndor · 21/08/2019 13:01

I'm not talking about bedtime, more morning time! The sun rises at about 4.30 in the summer!

Original poster
OoohOnly90CaloriesIllhave10 · 21/08/2019 13:03

Oh yeah, doh!

We're up so early that I don't get the chance to sleep when it's light in the morning.

There's no sleep happening at all that's the problem 😭

OP posts:
Caspianberg · 21/08/2019 13:04

I would just block the top park out using dark paper stuck on the window with blu tack. Then use x2 black out gro blind things ont he bottom half. That way you can just remove the lower 2 parts daily for light which are easier to reach

OrangeJustice · 21/08/2019 13:04

The best and cheapest blackout thing we used (and we tried them all) was blackout material cut to size and fixed to window frame with sticky backed velcro. We did the whole upstairs and even the windows on the front door at the bottom of the stairs such was our desperation Grin

banivani · 21/08/2019 13:09

I second the velcro solution. If you don't want to stick velcro directly on the frame Sugru might work. I've cleaned Sugru off kitchen cupboards (laminate) without a mark, you should be able to stick velcro bits on with it and then get it off painlessly.

mumwon · 21/08/2019 13:14

measure windows go to nearby posh town (better quality donated don't you know Grin ) go round charity shops check out curtains -

SinkGirl · 21/08/2019 13:25

I feel your pain, we were in the same boat and there was almost never a time when both twins were asleep. It was absolute torture.

Have they actually investigated him properly for any medical issues? I knew my twins sleep wasn’t normal but I was so fobbed off by HVs and GPs - it’s only because we were still under neonatal that we discovered dairy allergies, and severely enlarged adenoids for one of the twins. How old is your little one? Any noisy breathing, vomiting, snoring, pauses in breathing, improvement in sleep when upright, signs of gastric distress / pain? I would definitely make sure they’ve considered reflux, allergies, adenoids etc before paying for a sleep consultant. Looking back I wish I had paid for a private ENT assessment for my little warthog twin!

SinkGirl · 21/08/2019 13:27

If you’re going to need to find buyers I’d go for something removable like the groblinds - you can just leave 3/4 up most of the time and then take them all down for viewings

GreatestShowUnicorn · 21/08/2019 13:55

When DD was little I had rubble sacks stuck to the windows to keep it dark! I also have a black out tent from decathlon maybe cot in tent?

GummyGoddess · 21/08/2019 14:01

Is there no room without a massive window? E.g. bathroom or kitchen?

CassianAndor · 21/08/2019 14:17

how is the OP meant to get on with her sleep training if her DC is sleeping in a communal room? Indeed, how can any child be expected to get to sleep in rooms that the adults will be using after their bedtime?

LochJessMonster · 21/08/2019 14:19

Buy a big 2nd hand tent and put the cot in there?
You can face it away from the window and leave the door unzipped for airflow.

AravisTarkheena · 21/08/2019 14:27

I was also going to say is there no other room you can sleep in - eg. could you swap the living room and bedroom around?

MerryDeath · 21/08/2019 14:34

i would not be putting a lid on a cot ever, that's unpleasant

GummyGoddess · 21/08/2019 15:03

If it's only for a few months then she can adapt and not use the kitchen/bathroom while dc is asleep. Surely a better option than swaddling the cot in thick blackout material? That would be suffocatingly hot and stuffy to get the required level of darkness.

CassianAndor · 21/08/2019 15:07

so best to get the window sorted, and many people have made suggestions.

Baby gets to sleep at 7 and I then can't use the loo, brush my teeth, have a shower, have a cup of tea, get a glass of water/wine, empty the dishwasher?

Come on. It's a daft suggestion.

Original poster
OoohOnly90CaloriesIllhave10 · 21/08/2019 15:31

Yeah the living room and kitchen (and front door) are all one.
It's just not possible to do that.

Also, someone mentioned how could a child sleep if the parent shares the room?

He's a baby and it's guidelines that they are in their parents from for the first 6 months.
I don't see how he would be bothered with me sleeping in the same room. I go to bed quietly enough not to disturb him.

God I hadn't even considered the nightmare of getting up and down the ladder to remove top groblinds in time for viewings.
It's just not doable.

OP posts:
CassianAndor · 21/08/2019 15:39

it is doable. How many viewings do you expect to have? How much notice do you have of them? I'm sure there isn't an estate agent at your door every hour of every day?

orangeshoebox · 21/08/2019 15:40

you don't have to allow viewings...

thinkingcapon · 21/08/2019 16:10

How old is your child op?