Black Out Curtains
For Naps
Black out curtains for day naps should be used only as a temporary measure while your child learns to nap during the day. If they are used for too long (too many days/ weeks) they have the potential to confuse your child’s body clock.
Make sure your child gets plenty of light at other times of day so that your child’s body clock continues to recognise night from day.
If your child is sleeping a lot during the day, and not much at night, black out curtains are definitely not recommended during the day.
For Early Risers
Black out curtains can help children to sleep longer in the morning. Ideally, open the black out curtains at the time you would like your children to naturally wake each day regardless of whether they have been awake for an hour or are not yet awake.
Please add your experiences with these approaches in the comments below. Please provide the age of your child when you tried it, and how long you tried it for. If it helped, please share the effects you saw. If it didn’t help, why do you think it didn’t work in your case?
