night wakings--light on/off or nightlight?

emilyerin13 · July 2012

Does LO have a nightlight in his/her room that stays on all night? When you go in at night for feedings/diaper changes do you turn a light on?

DS has a very dim nightlight (on all the time) in his room, so dim that it doesn't shed enough light for diaper changes or even a quick check on him. I also have a motion sensor nightlight that comes on when I go in to check on him. I've always turned on a small lamp on the opposite side of his room when I go in to feed change him (7watt CFL bulb). It doesn't seem to bother him and I don't feel like he's any more awake than if I left it off. I'm just wondering what everyone else does. I just read that you should not turn a light on when going in for feedings/changes/checks but even with my "night vision" its so dark that its hard for me to see how DS is positioned (if sleeping). I read this in the same book that says 5 hours = STTN. Ha!

KeyLime81 · July 2012

We have an Angel Care monitor, so we use the "halo" nightlight on the base. It's a calming, bluish light and, yes, we leave it on all night. We also have a nightlight in the hallway right outside of his room (so I can see where I'm going in the dark) and between those two lights, I am able to see well enough.

For "big" changes (like diaper blowouts/upset stomach requiring a complete pj and sheet change) I do need a little extra light to make sure I get everything cleaned up well. For that, we have the overhead/ceiling light in the nursery on a dimmer switch. It's nice that I can turn on the light, but I can control how bright it gets. Thankfully, I've only needed that 2 or 3 times!

ccip82 · July 2012

We have the turtle constellation night light that I turn back on before I pick her up from the crib. It shuts off automatically after about a half hour.

I also leave the hall light on dim so I can see where I am going at night.

lckcdc3 · July 2012

We also use the halo light on the angel care monitor. He hasn't had a night time poop since he was 2 months old. The monitor gives me just enough light to check though. When I feed him I put a burp cloth over the light because I feed him right next to it and he likes to stare at it otherwise. I also have a dimmer on the main lamp in case I need it.

Tussie Mussie · July 2012

Our white noise machine has a very dim night light that stays on all the time. I don't ususally change her diaper during night wakings (unless it's poo), because it wakes her up, so I don't turn on any extra light. We do one night feeding though, usually in the living room b/c that's where the rocker is now and I turn on the light in the laundry room with the door cracked a tiny bit so it shines into the kitchen/living room enough for me to make a bottle.

We have a small lamp in her room that I've had to turn on during the very occasional pee-splosions that require new pjs and sheets.

Parker16772 · July 2012

I usually just turn on the hall light outside his room and leave the door halfway cracked and then we always turn the soother in his crib on. It plays soft music and has blue lights so it creates a soft glow that helps to see and put him back to sleep. It automatically goes off after 20 mins

JammieJk · July 2012

I don't turn any lights on at all. The video monitor above his crib has a very dim light so that the night viewing can work, and I guess that's enough light for me to locate him in his crib.

He only pees at night, so I don't do diaper changes at night anymore. If he does a #2, it's usually early morning. Then I have a small lamp that I will turn on or I will crack the shutters in his room for the street lamp outside to illuminate things just a bit.

catlackey · July 2012

DD doesn't have a night light in her room either. We use the light up turtle. She seems to like the star pattern it makes on the ceiling and she goes back to sleep pretty quickly when we use it.

Happily Overwhelmed · July 2012

We have a nightlight but the bulb died recently and we've noticed DS does better in the darkest room possible.

If for some reason we have to get up with him then we'll turn the closet light on. If I'm just checking on him I'll turn the hall light on.

kwinkle1980 · July 2012

I have two nightlights, and they put out just enough light that I can see without turning on any extra lights.

uncharch7 · July 2012

we use the projector all the time at night so we can check on him and do night diaper changes, it's just enough for us to see.

jvg6909 · July 2012

ccip82:
We have the turtle constellation night light that I turn back on before I pick her up from the crib. It shuts off automatically after about a half hour.
I also leave the hall light on dim so I can see where I am going at night.

This is what I would use also when A used to take a bottle in the middle of the night. It was perfect.

tetedefromage · July 2012

My LO still sleep in our room (we'll be moving her to own room soon, though). In the past I would leave the tv on overnight, but with the cablebox turned off, so it was just a black screen. Gave me enough light to see to change her diaper, but not to much light to disturb our sleep. But the last couple weeks I've stopped changing her over night...she screams her head off when I change her diaper overnight, so I decided it wasn't worth it and just wait 'til morning now. (If she pooped, I'd changed her, but she rarely does that overnight). So I've quit leaving the tv on. No nightlights. I'll probably use some sort of nightlight when I move her into her room though.

brookie9 · July 2012

We have no light in the room over night anymore. Used to have a nightlight on but he does better the darker the room. DH installed a dimmer switch in the nursery and it's perfect on the dimmest setting for night feedings. I love it! We also try to avoid diaper changes at night unless really necessary.

Greenbaby3114 · July 2012

We leave the bathroom light on with the door cracked. He has his FP seahorse also that I will turn on when he gets fussy. We are going through so many lightbulbs in the bathroom I need to do something different.

kelsea1031 · July 2012

We've got a very dim nightlight in DD's room. We also have a lamp with a dimmer switch in case I need more light (for a diaper or sheet change).

Chargersgrl33 · July 2012

LO STTN but only started this when he turned about 6 1/2 months. We keep the starry night humidifier light on for him. That's all we ever used, even when he was waking for feedings.

night wakings--light on/off or nightlight?

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