How essential are blackout curtains?

[Bumblingonby]

I keep reading that rooms need to be pitch black for babies to nap and sleep properly but if youre in the UK this poses 2 problems:

1. we are told to be in the same room for all naps and sleeps to 6 months for safety. Obviously that can't be in a blacked out room!

1. British houses have no ac, so in summer it's necessary to have fans on AND windows wide open with nothing blicking airflow for night temperatures to be comfortable (at least at our house!) so blackout curtains would be rendered a bit useless.

I have a 4 month old and looming to foster good sleep habits. Does anyone have experience or advice on this?

Thanks!

Personally I found that babies slept through anything. Hoover on, dog wandering about, bright sunshine. We lived in a caravan with the first one as we were building a house.

I on the other hand need blackout curtains and earplugs to fall asleep.

They don't need to be pitch-black to sleep, but obviously in spring/summer a daytime nap can be in a pretty bright room if you don't have fairly thick curtains.

I always had blackout curtains in my old house because I prefer it, and it helped with the kids' sleep - wouldn't say it's essential though.

Good sleep habits, in my experience, are all about keeping an eye on 'wake times' and putting them down in a regular schedule. I know loads of people prefer to be flexible and fit around their own schedule but my kids have slept brilliantly since they were toddlers (usual erratic sleep before then) and I do think it's because I kept a consistent nap schedule when they were babies. (Naps were often on the move in pushchair).

I don't know where you are but I've barely experienced three nights this year where it's been hot enough to have fans and windows open!! Coldish house though...

My child didn't need them at all and could sleep in quite bright light - but was disturbed by noise, which I know other babies can / could sleep through.

For us, black out has been a game changer. We've never had early wake ups and bedtime in summer is easier because the room is dark for sleep. I know all kids are different, but both of mine have been great sleepers and I've always blacked out their rooms - even on holiday.

I blacked out my bedroom for the duration that they slept in my room when they were very young and then blacked out their rooms when they moved into their own. Made me sleep better too!

As for the summer, I air the house and rooms during the day and then just close the windows at night and they have fans if it's really hot. It's never really been an issue.

We live in France and we don't have AC and we sleep with the shutters and windows closed and curtains drawn. When it's very hot we put a fan in DC's room but I don't think we used it more than about 10 days this summer and you'd need it even less in the UK.

We have blackout panels but have a low light on all night, so there is some illumination but not the bright morning sunlight. Xx

Thanks all- surprised at those who don't need windows open and fan on all night, i live in a modern, insulated flat that's quite cool when it's hot out compared to most but even so on nights like last night when it's humid and 20 degrees outside all night, it is 25 degrees in our room with window open and fan on max!

I have light induced migraines. The best money I ever spent was putting in window shades like the ones in “the Holiday” in all the bedrooms.

Ah flats will be insulated from above and below, and possibly the side! Useful in cold weather! Drafty period property here.

Don't bother - they will sleep in daylight. Make it as easy as possible and ditch the Gina Ford book

I'm always envious of those window shades when I watch the movie.

Who is telling you all this?

You need to stop listening to them.

How do you think parents of more than 1 manage this same room thing? How will you if you have a second baby?

They're not essential but I will never forget sellotaping bin bags to my toddler son's windows once in desperation! It didn't even work! The things you do when you want to sleep.

He's 6 now so all a distant memory!

It very much depends on the child and can change as time goes on.
Some are fussy as to conditions and some will sleep no matter noise levels or brightness.
DD went from velcro baby, to sleeping no matter the conditions and then had to have black outs/sleep music.
The black outs are useful later on in the toddler/ preschool age when they whinge that "it's not bedtime because it's still daylight" during summer among a hundred reasons a night as to why they cannot sleep.

That’s the NHS & Lullaby Trust advice. If you have more than one; they advise the baby sleeps in a carrier on you, so you’re with it.

The black out blinds/white noise/quiet advice might be controversial, but being in the same room as baby when they sleep is not. It’s proven to reduce SIDS deaths, as babies regulate their own breathing from someone else’s in the room.

Hey op, you can't leave the windows open in children's bedrooms over night anyway, so you're just as well to have blackout curtains up.

Black out blinds helped ours a lot once they were in their own rooms. We didn’t worry about it until then.

They still do - they can easily sleep until lunchtime in their blacked out rooms as teenagers!

We couldn't have done without them. However they are capable of shattering a window of they get too hot so be cautious.

I personally would avoid all (sound machines etc) that as I don't want to create issues for my DC when they are older. Initially I kept mine in the lounge during the day for naps so they'd get used to the light and noise. Mine was a good sleeper though.

You can't?

Well, you shouldn't, if the kids can reach the windows, as children are known to climb up and fall out of windows.....

Surely it depends on the type of windows and window locks?

And the age of the child... don't think a 4-month old is going to do that!

Very true 🤣

No, a 4-month old isn't going to climb out of a window, but that baby will get bigger, become a toddler and then a child, and they sometimes like to climb. I'm thinking longer term than infancy...