Is the night light in your child’s room keeping them up at night?

by | Apr 24, 2023 | Sleep Environments, Sleep Info for all Ages

Is the light in your child’s room disrupting their sleep?

    Read further to learn:

    • How not all light is created equal.

    • Why to choose one type of light over another

    • Tips for optimizing your child’s room for sleep

    The science behind choosing the correct sort of light to have at night?

    What kind of light do you have in your child’s room during sleep?

    If you answered no light, I’m impressed! I don’t even do that in my own kids’ rooms. Most parents use some sort of light in their child’s room and that is ok but let’s talk about what type and color of light is the best if you are choosing to use it.

    To understand why I would recommend one certain light over another, let’s briefly discuss the science around it.

    During daylight our adrenal glands secrete cortisol in response to many things (the most common is fight or flight). However, cortisol levels are at their highest at the beginning of the day when we are first exposed to daylight which gets us moving in the morning. They begin to drop as the day continues. As evening closes in, melatonin production begins. To read more on the science of light and waveforms click here.

    Now this is where the color of light becomes important. As technology has advanced and the use of lightbulbs and eventually TV’s, computer monitors, smart phones and tablets were introduced, our brain began to get confused on what time of day it was and continued to secrete cortisol. We found that there was a sudden jump in sleeping issues when all these technologies were introduced in adults but also in children.

     

    Choose the correct type of light.

     If you are using a light source in your child’s room consider using a soft yellow or red but never a blue or white light. The wavelengths of different colors of light (blue or white is short and red or yellow is long) is important as it mimics daylight (blue/white) and evening (red/yellow). Bottom line, we want more red/yellow light in the evening.

    Tips to improve your child’s sleep:

    • Turn the lights down in the house 2 hours prior to bedtime.
    • Turn off all tablets, phones, TV’s, etc.… 2 hours prior to bedtime.
    • Don’t allow the use of electronic devices in their bed at any time of the day.
    • Put a piece of tape over any lights emitted by devices (wipe warmers, humidifiers, monitors) in your baby’s room.
    • Use red or yellow light during baby’s bedtime routine and then dim the light even further for sleep.