How important are black-out curtains or shades?

nerdbaby · June 2012

We have a whole bunch of stupid rules in our HOA and one of them concerns blinds in the windows - basically the only models that are approved have cords and are unsafe for baby's room. Her crib is nowhere near the window but regardless if I have paranoia about anything it's choking/strangulation hazards. So light blocking blinds are out. We can have pretty much any kind of drapery but not the black-out shades that clip to the back of the curtain panel, unless they're covered from view by an additional sheer - I am not hanging three layers per panel, that's just ludicrous. Dang historical HOA rules... and I did try to find all-in-one black out or thermal lined panels, but most of them are just fug.

So my question for those in the know.. how important for baby's daytime sleep are black-out curtains? If I just get the most opaque curtains I can find am I setting myself up for sleep torture? Should I just suck it up and do the three panel thing?

OUKatie · June 2012

According to my dad (a builder who is semi-obsessed with child-proofing my house), you can buy a kit to retrofit your blinds with safety cords at Lowes, Home Depot, etc. My sis and her fiance just recently built a house and they have breakaway cords on all of their wood blinds. Basically, if too much weight is put on the cords, they break off so that a child can't get caught up in them.

gracefulruby33 · June 2012

I am also of the thought that getting blackout shades is a mistake. I have wanted to cave a few times and get them in order for DD to sleep longer... And I am glad I didn't. I can put her down for naps and at night with it still very light out with no problems. I also don't have to worry about being somewhere other than home and have no blackout shades in order for her to get to sleep.

nerdbaby · June 2012

Makes sense. And we're going to be a traveling family fairly consistently as soon as she hits 8 weeks.. chances are she may have only been in her own room for a few weeks by then anyway and it's not as though I'm changing our bedroom curtains to black out shades...

I'll look into those safety cords as well - thank you!

mattsgirl515 · June 2012

We never used blackout curtains and DS slept fine. There are lots of safety things made for cords. We have some on our blinds, but DH put them up so I really don't know how they work. He found them at BRU.

Temp123197812503460 · June 2012

i think it depends on your kid (and how late/early it is light where you live). we tried without but im not a big fan of getting up for the day at 4am, so blackout it is. FWIW its not like they are truly 100% dark, light still gets in the side.

CrazyToast · June 2012

I also agree that blackout shades are a recipe for disaster. We have regular blinds that have pull cords which we separated into the 4 strings, put colorful beads on the bottom, and now just have to pull all 4 together.

maybridetobe04 · June 2012

Estwd2:

There are two schools of thought here. Some like blackout curtains/shades saying they help baby sleep longer; some say you are setting them up for sleep failure later if they have to sleep where there are no blackout curtains (i.e. daycare, relative's house or hotel on vacation, etc.).

My kid sleeps just fine with regular blinds. There's tons of light in her room during the day and when she goes to sleep at night. No problems.

I'm in the school that blackout curtains are setting up for sleep failure later. I love that my DD can fall asleep in the day in the car if she is tired on a long car ride.

AKB090609 · June 2012

We decided to get them, part of the reason is for the additional insulation. We plan on leaving them open during the day, but will close at night to help keep the room warmer on those clod Minnesota nights.

avalovesart · June 2012

I wish we had them, DD doesn't nap well in the day time and I think the bright sun in our room is part of the problem. However, her pediatrician said he doesn't believe light affects babies the way many of us think it does. I'd still like to try them though, but just don't have the funds right now.

eawilson · June 2012

We have a blackout shade on her nursery window. It's a cheapy roller shade from Lowe's cut to the size of the window. Obviously this isn't an option for you with the HOA rules.

I'm not sure how necessary they are. My sister swore by the blackout shades with her twins (who were terrible sleepers) which is why we put it up before she was born. It still lets in light. But I've never really noticed a difference in her sleep. She still goes to sleep during the day for her naps and when it's still light out in the summer evenings, and at day care.

If I were you, I'd just forget about it. See what kind of sleeper your baby is, and then decide if it's worth giving it a try. Babies and sleep are just crazy unpredictable, and most of the time it is completely random and out of our control whether they sleep or not. You can create the perfect environment but they may still have trouble sleeping.

amandaleigh1 · June 2012

If you can sew, making your own drapes or shades with blackout lining is not that hard.

I made a child safe roman blind with a blackout liner, which was a pita, but I am really happy with the end result.

I need blackout shades to sleep in the summer because we have very long days. I want to help my kid sleep as much as I can, so he is getting them too.

dufferoo · June 2012

maybridetobe04:
Estwd2:

There are two schools of thought here. Some like blackout curtains/shades saying they help baby sleep longer; some say you are setting them up for sleep failure later if they have to sleep where there are no blackout curtains (i.e. daycare, relative's house or hotel on vacation, etc.).

My kid sleeps just fine with regular blinds. There's tons of light in her room during the day and when she goes to sleep at night. No problems.

I'm in the school that blackout curtains are setting up for sleep failure later. I love that my DD can fall asleep in the day in the car if she is tired on a long car ride.

I get the logic here, but I just don't think it necessarily holds true. I was desperate for rest when my daughter was a baby so I got blackouts (actually shutters for the window and blackout shade for the skylight) which truly helped her sleep better and longer. She was a champion napper which made my life soooo much happier. A few year later, she entered preschool and adjusted to sleeping in a dimly lit room surrounded by other squirming tots. Now at 9, she's able to fall asleep in the car on cartrips, occasionally nap in the afternoon if she's dead tired, go to bed at 8:30-9 even when it's not dark out yet, etc. She's fine. Kids are resilient. Everything you do in infancy will not affect them for the rest of his/her life!

misspunky · June 2012

I just read the other day that bright lights don't wake babies up and from what I've read other posters say it seems to be true, so I wouldn't be too concerned about making the room dark.

CallMeLauraJane · June 2012

We did use black out curtains. Cheap dark brown curtains from Target. I honestly think he sleeps longer at night because of them since he doesn't realize the sun is up in the morning. He never gets up before the sun and will usually sleep

My son has never had an issue falling asleep in the car or at daycare or in the middle of the living room with the sun shining on his face. It depends on the kid.

That.Just.Happened · June 2012

We have never used them. In DD's room, she has one large window with plantation blinds on them, and two smaller windows that have nothing on them. My theory was that I didn't want her sleep dependent on being in a completely dark room, so I purposely didn't cover the two smaller windows. The result is that she will sleep in any light condition, and she isn't bothered when the time changes in the summer.

I have friends whose kids do have the black-out shades and they do need a really dark room to sleep, so they run into a lot of trouble when they travel. I'm glad I don't have to deal with that.

Oh, and DD sleeps from 7:30pm to 8:30am and then naps from 12:30-4 every afternoon. That has been her schedule for almost a year, and she has always been a good sleeper.

vnstacie · June 2012

I have black out liners in LO's bedroom, the sun rises right into her room.

We don't have problems taking naps anywhere else, plus the liners don't block all the sun, it still comes in from the tops sides a d bottom of the window, just not directly.

Leinistar · June 2012

We have blackout shades and I LOVE them. I do agree that it can cause issues if you use them during daytime naps so we only use them at night. Mainly because he goes to bed so early and in Florida, it stays light in the summer until almost 9pm some nights. I think having a darker room helps with getting them wound down before bedtime. We just use the regular window blinds at nap time though and he does just fine.

HeiferBaby · June 2012

For us blackout curtains are a must! Like a pp said I'm not of fan of getting up ay 4am, my dd gets up with the sun. She also has traveled many times and slept just fine we just threw towels or blankets over the windows during the day. Would you want to sleep in a bright room?

Babies and kids are pretty flexible and I really dont understand some of the other pp saying you might be setting up your baby for bad sleep habits. So should your lo be sleeping in a pack in play or car for naps to prepare them for when they need to sleep in the pack in play or car, beacuse letting them sleep in a crib is creating a habit? mmm, no.

Just beacuse you have blackout curtains does not mean you have to have the curtains pulled shut all day, crack them for naps if you feel you might create a bad sleep problems for your lo.

3rdat40 · June 2012

I use blackout drapes from Pottery Barn Kids in both of my kids' rooms, and will get them for baby #3's room. I only close them at night, so they are not getting up too early during this time of year when the sun is up before I am! My kids were able to nap anywhere, anytime, so I didn't need them for naps.

MainelyFoolish · June 2012

As an infant, I don't think the blackout curtains/shades mattered that much. But as a toddler and now a preschooler, I'm glad I have a blackout shade for DD's bedroom. At this time of year where we live, the sun rises at 5 am which means it starts to get light outside by 4:30. It's a lot easier to get DD to stay in bed in the morning when the sun isn't streaming in through her window. It also helps at night in the summer when it's bedtime but it's still light outside; DD doesn't tell time yet and sometimes has trouble with the concept that it doesn't have to be dark to be bedtime.

juliane2004 · June 2012

I like blacking out the light. My kids sleep okay without the blackouts but they sleep BETTER with them. I.e they wake at 7 am withOUT them but 9 am WITH them.

Also, the curtains I liked for decor didn't come as "blackouts" so we did it the "hick" way and put aluminum foil on the windows.

wifeyvana · June 2012

Depends on the baby. For my LO they are a MUST...unless if I want to wake up at 5am. They have roller blackout shades that go in between the window and blinds, so you could just use them at nap/nighttime and pray your HOA doesn't notice. We have a strict HOA too, but so far we've gotten away with putting a room darkening cling thing to the window, in addition to the HOA approved blinds (with a safety thing for the cord) and blackout drapes (yup, 3 different things but I'm not a very happy mama without sleep).

jonihelen · June 2012

Estwd2:

There are two schools of thought here. Some like blackout curtains/shades saying they help baby sleep longer; some say you are setting them up for sleep failure later if they have to sleep where there are no blackout curtains (i.e. daycare, relative's house or hotel on vacation, etc.).

My kid sleeps just fine with regular blinds. There's tons of light in her room during the day and when she goes to sleep at night. No problems.

This exactly. I'd only add that some of the blinds in our house DO have cords and I've made them a little safer by either putting up a decorative hook (or a thumbtack, depending on where it is) very high up to the side of the window frame so I can hang the excess cord up, I've never had a problem and you can't even see them really behind the edge.

mrsbhk22 · June 2012

I don't think black out blinds are necessary for babies, but they are WONDERFUL for toddlers. Most babies aren't phased by light. Toddlers (2+) can really be affected by the longer summer days. My DS' now have black out blinds in their rooms and we have ZERO problems getting them to sleep in cars/hotels/etc with regular windows. The difference (for us) is that they sleep in longer in the morning when the room is darker. Their room is yellow and it faces east so it gets BRIGHT really early.I seriously wish I would have bought these sooner for DS#1. I never thought about it until he was almost 4!

LemonBlush · June 2012

MainelyFoolish:
As an infant, I don't think the blackout curtains/shades mattered that much. But as a toddler and now a preschooler, I'm glad I have a blackout shade for DD's bedroom. At this time of year where we live, the sun rises at 5 am which means it starts to get light outside by 4:30. It's a lot easier to get DD to stay in bed in the morning when the sun isn't streaming in through her window. It also helps at night in the summer when it's bedtime but it's still light outside; DD doesn't tell time yet and sometimes has trouble with the concept that it doesn't have to be dark to be bedtime.

I agree with this completely. We will be getting black out curtains for baby #2.

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