4 month old won't sleep unless total darkness- do cot covers exist?

[ladypanda]

Within the bounds of safety of course, we are wondering whether a sort of curtain/ mosquito net product might exist to put over our DS's cot- even with full black out cutains we can't get hs room dark enough to prevent him waking and staying awake after 45 minutes during the day. (He sleeps for longer in his pushchair, which we can make totally dark, however he is about to outgrow it.) Has anyone ever come across anything like this, and if not any other light- blocking tips...?!

I've got blackout fabric velcro'ed into the window frames, then blackout blinds on the inside recess of the window frame, then curtains

Sometimes I trap bits of plastic into the windows themselves which lie flat against the windows and secure the fabric

It can be done, but it's a bit messy!

Much safer than blacking out a cot though - you need air through

After 45 minds of sleep, your body goes into a lighter sleep mode. So if you are unable to get yourself back off to sleep you will wake up. So rather than making the room pitch black, try re-settling your lo and they may continue their nap. As they get older they learn to do it themselves, and voila!

Also, how about a blackout blind in the window recess as well as the curtains?

TBH if I were you I would try and get your baby used to sleeping in lighter surroundings. the problem with working with the need for darkness is that there will come a time when maybe you want him to sleep somewhere where full blackout is not available. Like if you go away, when summer comes and surroundings are brighter generally. And if he is used to being in complete darkness he just wont sleep elsewhere. Could be a problem. Hate to say, as is really cliched, but I do think that this could be making a rod for your back.

The 45mins thing is really quite normal at this age. I think babies are naturally programmed to enter lighter sleep after 45mins. If you go in and try and resettle he might sleep for another 45mins and eventually get out of the habit/be able to self-settle after that time. Have you introduced comfort items? Like a dummy/clothy/cuddle blanket or something? That might help.

thanks all- I do fear the rod for back thing having fallen into oh so many already! (dummy, rocking, swaddling etc) As I type we're trialling one of those sleep tent things- it's not blackout, but it cuts distractions. I have tried resettling him after 45 mins but without success if he can see anything going on around him- I think he's at that age when his sight and attention just realised how much there is going on around him. He woke after 40 mins in the tent, I popped the dummy in, and he's still asleep after a total now of 90 minutes, so maybe that's cracked it for now!

I have always used blackout blinds that totally block out all light. Cheapest ones from easyblindsonline.co.uk - work brilliantly. I have found that my older two, as the got older actually weren't dependent on complete darkness and can sleep perfectly well with some light. My youngest is still in the dark! But the point is that complete blackout for babies, in my opinion, really works for sleeping and gets them in the habit of having a good sleep pattern. In my experience it hasn't made them dependant on it as they get older, even though I have always gone for the total blackout option. Hope this helps...

Second the velcro stuff from easyblinds
We use black bin liners and masking tape to cover the window on holidays. Of all the 'rod for your own back' things to do, I reckon this ones pretty low maintenance!

Tin foil too for holidays. Stuck straight to the window. Completely blacks it out. Has saved our early mornings with the problems of veluxes!

I used to use velcroed blackout to the window frames

My health visitor gave me a good piece of advice ever - do not let your baby sleep in complete silence/darkness. You can't simulate those situations all the time, so if tey can sleep with a bit of light and background noise, you can put them to sleep almost anywhere.

Like you say, your lo is used to darkness now, but it should be easy enough to get him used to sleeping after a few days - best of luck, I know how horrible non-sleeping is!

Have you posted this twice or is someone asking the same question? I have replied on the other thread.