blackout blinds- has anyone managed to get them to work properly?

[nearlythere]

I have blackout blinds and i think these are the third set we've tried- where do you put yours? we've tried inside the recess, outside it, and i've resorted to putting a dark duvet cover over the window then pulling down the blind then drawing the curtains (also blackout lined) but the little blighters still wake up at 5 am because "the dark's gone away!"

Please someone save my sanity!!

I have blackout curtain linings inside my thin curtains, they work very well.
What happens if you let the kids stay up later? Do they get up later?

nope! if they stay up later we end up with very stroppy early rising twins, a mum with high blood pressure from losing any kind of child-free relaxation time and a newborn with a habit of having a lay in until the second the older two are out of the door so no chance of getting back to bed!

afraid to say that they are just early risers but ANY kind of light coming through the windows signals to them that its morning!

I'm thinking of maybe getting hubby to rustle up some shutters!

No, and ds woke up between 5 and 6 for the whole of last summer . Still, it meant he had 2 naps a day still which was quite useful (now we are down to a winter induced 1 hour nap and I am desperate for him to start nursery so I can get some proper housework done (and have a break, too maybe).

NO! i don't know how much longer this can go on! the twins are well behaved but there is no way of sleeping through their 'morning playtime' as they like to build towers and play the drum! i thought that they might get more tired these days from school but no such luck,

Try black out curtains as well as blinds? That way the curtains cover the gaps of light coming in the sides and the blind means you don't get light coming in over the top of the curtain. If light does still come in over the top then you can get those extra things (can't remember the word, begins with p?). The European way is to have wooden shutters on the outside of the windows!!!

put the blinds right up against the frame and roll it so it unrolls at the back of the roll rather than the front. hence touches the frame when its pulled down. then get some stick on velcro to keep it on the frame!! then put blackout material on the back of your curtains!

where i used to work they had a blckout blind (within the window but close to it) and then curtains with black out lining.

they Really did work and room was pitch black wetehr it was day or night...

but then there was the crack of light under the door.

but YES balck out blinds and black out curtains together CAN work!

I've got (well DS has) John Lewis ones in his room and it is pitch black in there. They are across the window, but not in a recess. he's got a thick curtain too, but it makes no difference to the light level.

A tiny chink of light does start coming in under the door at 5.30am now though. We got round that by closing all the doors upstairs - really did make a difference.

Do you remember those peculiar snake things people used to have by doors in the '70s (draught excluders, I think). They might keep out extra light? I was thinking of rigging up something similar.

Sorry for any typos - far too much wine this evening.......

had this same problem...i bought blackout material and cut it to fit in the window, so it's flush on the frame and velcro'ed it there. Still get a bit of light coming thru, but not enough to wake ds at 6am!

was a lot cheaper than getting more blinds/curtains etc etc