Is it advisable to have black-out curtains/blinds in the nursery?

[JBrd]

I'm a first-timer and have no clue... I've come across this a few times now in some of the books that I have been reading (but not all of them) and was wondering what your experiences are? Is it better for baby's sleep patterns to be in a completely dark room? Or is it maybe more of an issue in spring/summer, when the sun rises early?

And if you do get them used to a completely dark room, does that then mean they can't sleep anywhere else? We do expect to do a fair amount of travelling with baby, so would I have to take these travel black-out curtains everywhere we go?

No. Don't set up anything that you can't reproduce more or less in someone else's house, or a hotel or a tent or....anywhere you might want the baby to sleep over the next 5 years!

Yes it's worth it. Early morning wakings are much harder if it's light in their room. My son will sleep pretty much anywhere but when it come to nighttime, a lightish room makes early mornings hard.

Yes, we had both to try and stop really early morning waking( think 5 am all summer long), not so much with a young baby, they'll sleep anywhere but with a 8m +.

Some babies are really good sleepers and you can take them anywhere and some aren't you'll have to wait and see. I don't think having them in your nursery will mean that you need them everywhere you go.

Oooh seeker good advice, I hadn't thought of that. I was going to start with no blackout so I don't create a fussy sleeper. Not that I know what I'm talking about! I was going to get the child used to noise and natural light (as you would get through curtains) so they aren't easily woken.

You can buy black out curtains that you fasten to windows with suction cups for when you're travelling.

We have black out blinds. DD is 3 and will wake noticeably earlier during the summer months because of the cracks of light getting through the edges. "Look Mummy, it's light. That means it's morning and I can go downstairs!" Grrr.

We have them in our room too because we all wake earlier when it's lighter in the mornings.

I think it depends on which side of the house the sun comes up. If the sun rises shining in the baby's room then I possibly would, but otherwise I wouldn't bother.

My dc's are 6yo and 9yo. The older one that had blackout blinds will now sleep anywhere and sometimes forgets to close his curtains at night. The younger one didn't have them and has a light on to get to sleep.

If you're going to be travelling around a lot then I probably wouldn't bother to start with and you can always get some if you feel you need them at a later date.

hth

Mine never had them, I agree with seeker! Both of mine can fall asleep in a fully lit room not problem!

I put mine in to stop early morning waking in summer which it did. Wait and see maybe?

Or you could always just have it partially shut at bedtime but close fully when you go to bed.

Thanks for all your replies! My concern was actually more about baby waking early in spring/summer, as the nursery is a very light room that gets the sun in the morning. But I can also see the point about getting them used to that, would certainly make things easier when we are somewhere else...

Decisions decisions! So much to think about...

yes get them! the gro blinds are the travel ones, we are using atm in our 3 and 5yo's room and then plan to use them in baby's room for daytime naps when dc4 arrives in July. Also helps to keep room cool in summer ime. Def worth it.