We don't have heavy curtains anywhere in our home. (Partly due to allergies.) We have blinds and valances.
Tell me if this theory is similar...
If you always put a baby to sleep in a quiet room, they will never learn to sleep if there's noise. It's best to get them to take some naps with background noise, in the same room someone else is in, etc., so they learn to sleep without complete silence. (Of course this may not work with every child.)
What about SUNLIGHT?
Even with the blinds in our nursery it still gets a good bit of daylight. One of the windows is a picture window, and it is almost the full width of that wall.
I was really hoping just to do simple valances in baby boy Cloudbee's bedroom.
Has anyone had success in getting their baby to sleep on a decent schedule without having blackout curtains? Can you train your kiddo to sleep well without total darkness?
I'm thinking the problem may be that the sunlight could wake them up earlier in the morning? And that may be the problem vs. them not able to fall asleep for a nap in daylight? It's the mornings that may be the issue?
School me! I don't want full curtains on these huge windows! Do I need them?
We didn't have a dark room at all for him when he was a baby. And yes, he learned to sleep that way. My mom and I also talked in his room while putting him down for naps starting his first week and dogs were always barking, trains passing, home renos, everything. He learned to sleep through a lot.
I don't think you can generalize that much for either sound or light.
We have never had blackout curtains. We actually went with the theory that you put them to nap during the day in, say, the living room. And at night in their crib. That way they have a light change and a location change to give them cues about day vs night. DD has been an awesome sleeper throughout.
DD slept in a sitting room off our bedroom for the first 5 months. Background noise didn't bother her until she was 18 months. Light hasn't really bothered her that much. Until about 23 months, she only had blinds in whatever room she was sleeping in. We added curtains then (as a decor thing, not as a light thing) and it didn't make any difference in her sleep patterns.
I'd chill unless/until it looks like it's an issue.
We didn't have a dark room at all for him when he was a baby. And yes, he learned to sleep that way. My mom and I also talked in his room while putting him down for naps starting his first week and dogs were always barking, trains passing, home renos, everything. He learned to sleep through a lot.
Awesome. This is what I was hoping to hear. My sister did the noise thing with her kids, and they have always slept anywhere at any time.
Post by imimahoney on Oct 28, 2012 21:29:30 GMT -5
We have thin brown curtains and a thin liner in DS's room. It's fine in the morning and evening but during the day it is SO bright. It's hard for him to stay asleep in his room and really frustrating for me when he wakes after only napping for 20 minutes.
We are planning on getting some black curtains before the snow comes since it will be so much brighter with the reflection.
As for noise, when DS was a newborn he would nap in the living room with the lights and tv on but now that he is more aware there is no getting him to sleep with light and noise. Once and awhile he will fall asleep on me but that is rare. He sleeps with a white noise machine that lasts for about an hour.
I don't think you can generalize that much for either sound or light.
We have never had blackout curtains. We actually went with the theory that you put them to nap during the day in, say, the living room. And at night in their crib. That way they have a light change and a location change to give them cues about day vs night. DD has been an awesome sleeper throughout.
DD slept in a sitting room off our bedroom for the first 5 months. Background noise didn't bother her until she was 18 months. Light hasn't really bothered her that much. Until about 23 months, she only had blinds in whatever room she was sleeping in. We added curtains then (as a decor thing, not as a light thing) and it didn't make any difference in her sleep patterns.
I'd chill unless/until it looks like it's an issue.
Thanks for sharing your experience.
Chill? I'm just trying to figure out what type of dressing to put on the windows before I figure out what type of kid I end up with.
I have a cheap blackout roller shade from Home Depot. And a sound machine. DD is an AWESOME sleeper, so I don't really care if I've created a bad habit.
I have a cheap blackout roller shade from Home Depot. And a sound machine. DD is an AWESOME sleeper, so I don't really care if I've created a bad habit.
Ohhh, I bet I could hide one of these behind the valance if I end up needing to block out more light! Genius!!!! They brace to the wall, so I could totally plan on this as being my backup route if needed!
I don't think you can generalize that much for either sound or light.
We have never had blackout curtains. We actually went with the theory that you put them to nap during the day in, say, the living room. And at night in their crib. That way they have a light change and a location change to give them cues about day vs night. DD has been an awesome sleeper throughout.
DD slept in a sitting room off our bedroom for the first 5 months. Background noise didn't bother her until she was 18 months. Light hasn't really bothered her that much. Until about 23 months, she only had blinds in whatever room she was sleeping in. We added curtains then (as a decor thing, not as a light thing) and it didn't make any difference in her sleep patterns.
I'd chill unless/until it looks like it's an issue.
Thanks for sharing your experience.
Chill? I'm just trying to figure out what type of dressing to put on the windows before I figure out what type of kid I end up with.
Just go with the cute valances for now, and run out and get blackout something if your kid needs a darker room. Heck, we strung a bedsheet across DD's window in our transient apt for 3 months.
I don't think you can generalize that much for either sound or light.
We have never had blackout curtains. We actually went with the theory that you put them to nap during the day in, say, the living room. And at night in their crib. That way they have a light change and a location change to give them cues about day vs night. DD has been an awesome sleeper throughout.
DD slept in a sitting room off our bedroom for the first 5 months. Background noise didn't bother her until she was 18 months. Light hasn't really bothered her that much. Until about 23 months, she only had blinds in whatever room she was sleeping in. We added curtains then (as a decor thing, not as a light thing) and it didn't make any difference in her sleep patterns.
I'd chill unless/until it looks like it's an issue.
Thanks for sharing your experience.
Chill? I'm just trying to figure out what type of dressing to put on the windows before I figure out what type of kid I end up with.
I think Dr.L is saying that you could just use whatever you have in there, unless/until your baby seems to have an issue with light. So, yeah, just chill and cross this off your list for now.
DS has always been a fabulous sleeper. And he naps really well - still 2.5hr avg at 3y4mos. We have really thin brown curtains. I didn't think it affected him at all (and obv it doesn't totally) but he's def been sleeping a little later since it's been darker longer in the mornings. We are moving his room in a few mos and will definitely be getting something a little darker for his new room.
We do have blackout curtains. I was buying new ones anyways so went with them. He doesn't need darkness to sleep and was always a good napper (daycare isn't dark), but it helped cut down on the "sun's up, time to get up" yells from his room in the morning as he got older. If we don't shut them well, he will get up earlier in the morning.
We do run a small fan in his room for white noise, a small desktop vornado one. We live on a main road and it helps soften the sound of semis going by.
We have faux wood blinds in DDs room and I keep them slightly open but pointing up. Works great to brighten up the room but no direct sun in DDs face. She naps downstairs next to the tv during the say and upstairs when we try to her to go down for the night. She got her says and nights situated really quickly.
I have a cheap blackout roller shade from Home Depot. And a sound machine. DD is an AWESOME sleeper, so I don't really care if I've created a bad habit.
Ohhh, I bet I could hide one of these behind the valance if I end up needing to block out more light! Genius!!!! They brace to the wall, so I could totally plan on this as being my backup route if needed!
So happy I asked my question on here.
That's what I did for DD- just a valance and then the roller shade hidden behind it they will custom cut the shade for you in 5 min at Home Depot.
I think once the valance is up we'll go with one of those roller shades from Home Depot/Lowes. I'll hide it behind the valance. Seems like the best route for us and can be used once needed.
Chill? I'm just trying to figure out what type of dressing to put on the windows before I figure out what type of kid I end up with.
I think Dr.L is saying that you could just use whatever you have in there, unless/until your baby seems to have an issue with light. So, yeah, just chill and cross this off your list for now.
We didn't need them until Lu was a toddler and once we got them they extended her sleep by almost an hour in the morning. I absolutely consider them a necessity.
It's not a bug deal for naps or falling asleep at night, but morning light has a huge impact on her sleep.
Your baby will reach a point where he goes from being able to sleep thru anything to being more sensitive.
Yep. Exactly the same here. We didn't need them right away, but a need developed.
DD is a LATE sleeper in the morning - like 8 on the regular and 9 on some weekend days. I credit it in part to the black out shade in her room. (It was there when we bought the house - it's cheap but effective.) She likes the door open and the light on to go to sleep, plus she has a nightlight, so it's really not about falling asleep. But it works wonders for staying asleep.
Sorry, telling someone to "chill" when they want to make curtains and are unsure which might be best just seems a bit rough around the edges, IMO.
I read it as "don't worry about it" and not "chill out, you freak."
Same here.
I'll also echo the posters that said they didn't need them until toddlerhood. That was is also. Sounds like you have a good plan with the roller shade, though!
We do have them, but it's primarily for the mornings when the sun comes up early and we need him to sleep until about 8 or so. During the day, the curtains and blinds are open. He has no issues (now) napping in there.
We do use the sound machine though... he sleeps through most noise with it. If we travel somewhere, we use a white noise app on our phones.
If you don't want big bulky curtains, why not just get black out blinds? That's what we have (product is from Levoler) and we love them. I actually think they're more useful for keeping older kids on a schedule when the seasons change and it starts staying lighter later.