Even blackout blinds are not working well enough....what is the answer to a good nights sleep?!

[Alexandra84]

2 dc, both of who are very light sleepers. One will start to wake much earlier than I'd like, too old to have a nap. I'm now trying to source the ultimate solution to the summer months for our windows.
We've tried blackout blinds, combined with blackout curtains, but the light through the top of the curtains still causes issues.
What is that solution?!! It sounds ridiculous but I can only think that it's so bright due to l directions hour faces, little shadows from neighbours etc.
I'm considering buying the baby travel blackout blinds and just conceding to having to do this every night?

Are you sure that this tiny crack of light is the cause of the early waking?

you need bloc blinds that have a channel down the sides and block all light.
Or the blackout blind material that you stick up with velcro or suction cups words really well. I use that and a blackout blind and lined curtains. I love a black room to sleep in.

When my children were babies I read Gina Ford… this is what she recommended and I used it successfully in a rental property which didn’t have satisfactory black out in the children’s bedrooms:

https://easyblinds.co.uk/products/easynight-premium-blackout-blind-for-home?_gl=11aoyii1_upMQ.._gaMTc0NjIwNjIyNS4xNzQ1NTA3NjU4_ga_T75NRFPMWG*MTc0NTUwNzY1Ni4xLjEuMTc0NTUwNzc3NC4wLjAuMA..

It works by sticking adhesive Velcro around the window frames. I would suggest a slightly bigger overhang than the 4cm they recommend.

How old are they op? What time are they waking?

Really ? I do find this obsession with darkness a bit odd. I think there is evidence that waking at dawn is good for you.....

If the light is mostly coming over the top of the curtains, an old fashioned pelmet should do the trick. You could make a cheap version by attaching a roll of fabric above the window.
A more expensive option is wooden shutters over the window, in addition to the blackout blind. It stops light coming in round the sides or top of the window, and looks really nice. Also better for ventilation.

I bought blackout material from Dunelm and Velcro sticky things to stick to the edge of the window and to the back of the material so that the window is completely covered, works an absolute treat!

that's the stuff I was on about. really made a huge difference

We got the Tommee Tippee blackout blinds, cut them to the size of the outer edge of the frame of the window (this is very important - it must be bigger than the glass part of the window) and put command strip style velcro pads onto the window frame. Ours is PVC so I'm not sure it would work on wood. One small strip/pad in each corner and a couple in between depending on the size of the window. Then peel the paper backing off the velcro pads and stick the blind to it. You'll then be able to put it up and take it off again in seconds because it's just velcro. Hope that explanation makes sense. You can usually get the blinds on marketplace too.

Picture of the window might help. You need to put the blinds above the window and larger than the window. So black out romans are good.

It's not great for DC if they've been up 6 hours before they even start school/childcare. And it's not great for parents if you want an evening to yourself and to get more than an hour of sleep before they wake up again.

How many DC do you know who would get up at 2:30 am ? It isn't light at that time even in June. Dawn atm is around 5-6 am, I just think it's such a pity obliterating the light. Also do you want DCs that can only sleep in perfect darkness ? That isn't always pratical..

The op hasn’t confirmed time

I’ve seen these before and turns out the Op is complaining because her children wake at 6am

You need "cassette" blinds which have a channel attached each side that the material of the blinds comes down in and is absolute darkness. There are videos on youtube. That way the blind goes all the way to the sides.

Bloc is the most well known although there are others too https://www.blocblinds.co.uk/

On a smaller window we use strong magnets to attach blackout lining to the Venetian blind metal brackets.

We sleep in almost total darkness with 2 blinds and blackout curtains and I wake with a sunrise clock and I decide what time that wakes me, not when my East facing window beams sunlight in.

Sometimes noise outside wakes children. My nephew was awake at 5.30am because that is the time the neighbour left for work and the garage door opening woke him.

This article has a few links
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/being-awake-better/202307/sleep-the-power-of-dusk-and-dawn%3famp