Which is Best for Baby Napping: Dark Room or Lighted Up Room?

A lot of people believe that your baby should always nap in a room without lights, a dark room. Some others say it should be lighted up. We’d consider in this article which is better for baby napping: A dark room or a lighted up room.

A lighted room during the night can trick your body into believing it is day. In the same vein, a dark room during the day can get you to thinking it is night. This dark room during the day or lighted up room at night can trick our bodies into sleeping or not sleeping. This doesn’t happen just once, but over time, your body can get accustomed to it. That is why it feels natural for people who work shift jobs to sleep during the day and be active at night.

Now, to how it concerns your baby…

First, it is important that you clearly distinguish for your baby between night and day. While in your womb, the baby slept based on your own day/night movement. So, if you don’t clearly define night and day for your baby, they can end up all awake and disturbing at night when they should be sleeping and you resting.

However as your baby grows, and this clear distinction has been made, a dark room can do help your baby nap so much better. Again as your baby grows and becomes more social, it may be difficult for your baby to sleep in a room that is lighted up. Baby napping in a lighted room may be difficult for the child at first. In the same way, when a child sleeps in a darkened room during the day, at night for them sleeping might not come.

You can simulate the sunrise by opening up the windows or lightening up the room if you want your baby to naturally break out from a long nap.

There aren’t exact rules as regards this. You can adjust the lightening of the room as you want. Be careful though to balance it out, allow your baby nap for as long as is needed.

It is important that you find out what your baby feels comfortable with and allow him/her have adequate sleep, and more importantly, a consistent sleep cycle.