If you keep the room dark for naps

julieb00lie

Has this caused any problems with nighttime sleeping?  How many naps does your LO take and how long are they?

I experimented today with darkening the room and DS is napping so much better than he has been.  But I don't want him to start mixing up days and nights, and I worry b/c DC will not have the room this dark when he starts going there.

jmo866

I bought total blackout liners for LO's room, some light still gets in from the top and bottom of the curtains on sunny days, but it is really dark when the sun isn't shining brightly. It has not caused any problems with night time sleep, but then, it also hasn't improved his naps either, they are still 45 mins - 1 hour long, and he still goes from about 8/9pm to around 5/6am before a feed.

TanyaKM

No, it hasn't affected his night sleep. I bought blackout curtains a few weeks ago and while they don't help him nap longer, they do help him fall asleep MUCH faster. So at least now I'm not spending an hour trying to get him to go to sleep for a 45-minute nap. 

jodes727

We have blackout curtains and I now use them for naps.  At first I kept them open so he wouldn't mix up his days and nights, but around 5 weeks, I started closing them during the day for his naps.  He hasn't mixed up days and nights since I did this.  

His naps vary in length from 40 minutes all the way to 2 hours. 

Snapdragon750

julieb00lie:

Has this caused any problems with nighttime sleeping?  How many naps does your LO take and how long are they?

I experimented today with darkening the room and DS is napping so much better than he has been.  But I don't want him to start mixing up days and nights, and I worry b/c DC will not have the room this dark when he starts going there.

We keep the room pitch black using vinyl blackout panels for naps.  She's napped much better and continued to sleep 12 hours uninterrupted through the night.

Sleep begets sleep, so better naps should actually lead to better night sleep, not vice versa. Also, your baby has circadian rhythms now and is no longer capable of mixing up days and nights any more than you are.  So don't worry about that! 

EDIT: Just noticed the age of your baby is only a month, so it's possible that day/night confusion is still going on for you.  But I believe that once it's gone, it's gone for good. 

Dani0701

B sleeps in his swing in the living room, so it doesn't get completely dark, but even when I put him in the crib for naps, it doesn't mess him up.  IDT he's really ever had that day/night confusion.