Blackout blinds/curtains?

[pregnancy1]

Morning,
Just a quick and random question. We are starting to think about decorating the nursery (I am 24 weeks) and wondered what everyone thought about getting blackout blinds or curtains. They seem to be everywhere, but I thought it would be best not to get them so that baby gets used to sleeping anywhere (i.e. if we pop to a friends house or one of her granny's houses and need her to be able to sleep during the day without blackouts).
Does anyone have any experience of not having them? Does baby just get used to it?

Also, does anyone have any idea where I can get some curtain material (or curtains, but luckily my mum is handy at making them). I was thinking of having a plain room with animal print curtains and a few prints on the wall...

Thanks!

I found the blackout blinds fantastic, gets baby to sleep when you want them to, although when we stay away I was always worried that he won't settle, he usually does. He is now 2 and sleeps really well, we still have blackout blind up, but he won't have one when we move rooms next week - will keep you posted!

Found this when looking for nursery curtain material, but never got round to ordering it for my dd's room:
www.kidsfabrics.co.uk/

I also got made-to-measure blackout blind from:
www.wilsonsblinds.co.uk/index.php

I was really anti black out blinds as I personally like to wake up naturally as the sun streams through. But since Ds is a natural 5am waker and the sun is rising earlier and earlier we've invested in black out blinds and they are a godsend. useful for daytime sleeps too when the sun is bright. Also they keep some heat out too. John Lewis do lots of fab kids material and the blackout stuff too.

Don't worry about being away from home, I've alwasy found you can improvise with towels/blankets draped over curtain rails if you need to make the room darker.

My bump-to-be's room has blackout curtains because it used to be my darkroom!

It's also in front of a lampost and faces the rising sun, so I thought I'd leave them. they are very cute, neutral baby-ish pale green gingham anyway. COst pence from Ebay!

buy a spare set and don't gather them. Take them with you when on hols and peg/pin them up. I wouldn't go anywhere in summer with out them!!

Definitely recommend blackout blinds as the early morning sun can be so bright.

I bought a cheap dark navy blue double bed sheet that we use to put up on the windows when we stay at someone's house or go on holiday.

My (unborn!) baby's room is in the (costly, complicated) process of getting a blind and it's complicated because I have a strange velux window and I want a blackout blind for it!
I've seen a portable blackout curtain for holidays and things available from PHP.

we got a black out blind when dd1 was little mainly as we have velux windows and light was coming in sides of exsisting blind velux black out blind has runners on either side so no light gets in.
did find that when she slept say at my mums room would be to light just solved it by taping up binliners

The nursery window is 2m40cm wide, and a nightmare for anything like this!

I didn't use blackout blinds when they were babies, started with them when toddlers. I also didn't close curtains when it was a nap in the day .

For children's material for curtains try Dunelms, it's where I bought all the curtains or material for curtains when we had a new house and needed loads. I made curtains and matching quilt covers for when baby moved into a bed.I can't see any online, you'd have to find your nearest shop.

Agree they are great for avoiding early morning sun in the summer, and also for aiding early bedtimes when it is still light outside. It also helps the baby distinguish between daytime napping and proper bedtime sleeping.

We got ours from argos, they're grrrrreat! DD is 2.6 now and sleeps/settles really well, even on the odd occasion when she is sleeping somewhere lighter, though she does tend to wake earlier without them, so I think they do the trick of keeping her asleep longer in the light mornings!

You need blackout - you just do.

I promise you

A cheap and great to travel with option is the ba ba blackout blind.

We very deliberately - for reasons you suggest - never had blackouts.

We have always have kids who can sleep anywhere.

Whereas have had visitors moan about the lack of blackouts (well why didn't you check before you turned up!) and had kids waking at 4am while ours merrily slept on till 8.

It is not always possible to black out when you go places - eg we have bedroomsin the roof therefore veluxes - and we are delighted we don't rely on it.

But then, when my kids were small, blackouts were mainly being suggested by SWMNBN and I was pretty anti .......

GBruce, I have reported your post.

You need to pay a fee to advertise on MN.

Oh goodness pg1... GET THE BLACKOUT BLINDS RIGHT NOW.

To solve the problem when on holiday or moving around, we got baa baa blinds (but I think now they've been taken over by the Grobag people and are called something else - but you can google them). Anyway, they sucker to the window directly, so you can take them off and put them back up wherever. They fold really small and come in a handly little drawstring bag. They're not so expensive as made to measure stuff either.

Lifesaver. Otherwise once it's summer your little one WILL be waking at 4.30am. It's not their fault, it's 'morning' as far as they know. Honestly, my blackout blinds changed my life.

Of course, you might have one of those miracle babies who just sleep 7-7, whatever.

But then again, you might not...

db
xx

Mine didn't sleep 7-7.

But neither did they wake at 4.30 (and when they were all tiny we lived in the very far north of Scotland where it never got dark at all!)

But we decided no on the blackouts and it has been a roaring success for us.

i never had blackout blinds....
i have now, dds are 5 and 3
why i waited 5 years i will never know. same reason as you probably.

much easier for them to go to sleep in the summer when still light outside
DD1 no longer wakes at crack of dawn.

Their room isn't completely pitch black - i ordered curtains at window sill length and the silly mare lady in shop didn't tell me the blackout lining stops about 8" from the bottom. Anyway, some light gets in and they have a dimmed light on to go to sleep anyway, but they really do help.

here is the Baa baa travel blind referred to above now relaunched as Gro-Anywhere blind

My baby is about to turn 1 and i just got a blackout blind a few weeks ago. Why on earth i waited 11 months i'll never know.
Straight away stopped waking at 5.30am and now wakes at 7.
Morning nap extended by 45 mins!
Get one!!!

It's worth pointing out that whilst mine have blackout at home, they don't when we go away and they don't have issues sleeping without, but they are now 2 and 4.

I think there is a big difference between total blackout, not an inch of light allowed in and something which makes the room dark.

i do know babies who can only sleep when the room is pitch pitch black and that can cause a problem when going to nursery, friends' houses etc...

just a quickie - for fabric, Designer's Guild has some really cute kids patterns.