I’ve had a few families recently tell me that they use nightlights for their babies because they worry that they will be afraid of the dark without it or they use a night light to make sure that there is enough light to see when they go in for night feedings or diaper changes. You might want to have a night light because you see the cute lights available in the baby stores or the white noise machines that include a night light feature. And we know how helpful white noise is for sleep!
So I thought I’d answer the question here: should babies sleep with a nightlight?
I’ll be honest, the best environment for a child is always total darkness with a night light on in the room.
We don’t need to worry about babies being afraid of the dark. Babies are used to complete and utter darkness as that was what life was like in the womb. Usually fear of the dark doesn’t happen until after 2 years of age when toddlers develop their imagination, and are exposed to more things that can cause fear, and even then not all toddlers express any fear, or ask for a nightlight.
Some people recommend using a baby night light for when your baby wakes up in the middle of the night. The theory is that when they wake they won’t feel disoriented and know they are in familiar surroundings. But I want to get a bit controversial here. If a baby falls asleep independently, in their room, then when they wake they will not feel disoriented or wonder where they were, because the same conditions will be present from when they fall asleep, including complete darkness.
Nightlights can be stimulating and distracting for sleep and have the potential to inhibit the production of melatonin (the sleepy hormone) if you use the wrong color. If you want to use a night light then a red night light is best, on a very dim setting. White and blue light have similar wavelengths as that of daylight.and thus inhibit melatonin production in the body Exposure to blue and white light suppresses the production of the hormone melatonin and therefore increase alertness at night, can cause frequent night waking and impact the body’s circadian rhythm. So definitely not recommended to use at sleep times. Melatonin is necessary for falling asleep initially and for staying asleep longer,
I often suggest setting the scene for sleep time even at the beginning of your baby’s bedtime routine. Have a dim red light going in your baby’s room while you get them ready for bed. This helps you start setting the scene for sleep and help the release of melatonin. Sime families I work with have lights that show a light show of some description – like constellations on the ceiling and things like that. And they use them as part of the bedtime routine. I’d like to suggest not to. As they often emit bright white light, or other colors, that we really don’t recommend for sleep. As fun as those light shows are, they are not conducive to sleep.
For parents who need to go into their baby in the middle of the night I suggest them only using a dim light, if possible in a red hue. I wouldn’t suggest using your phone to light the way because this will be too bright. If you have a too bright room it may wake your baby up too much and make it harder for them to fall back to sleep.
Babies’ and young children’s eyes let in more light and are much more sensitive to light than we are. This means that even a short time in bright lights can suppress the secretion of melatonin and your child or baby’s sleep. This means we really need to be careful about their light exposure before bed, during the bedtime routine and overnight. This is also why I suggest no screens at least 2 hours before bedtime as well. If you have anything in the room like a baby monitor that emits a little white, blue or green light, I also suggest parents tape of that light so it doesn’t disrupt their little one.
If you still would like to introduce a nightlight into your child or baby’s room, you are probably wondering what the right night light is to choose. So let me tell you what my favorite one is. The Hatch Baby Rest. You can program it from your phone, choose the color, so no problem with having a red hue. You can also play with the brightness to ensure it only has a soft glow. It also works as a great ok to wake clock for a toddler, if you ever need to introduce one.
I hope this helps you decide whether you’ll introduce a nightlight. The perfect sleep environment is so important for your child’s sleep. I wish you many nights of restful sleep.
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