sleeping in the dark...with a baby

[gte510i]

I sleep much better with a dark room.  Following the advice of an early whole9 blog post,  I got rid of every light source in my bedroom.  My husband and I sleep much much better. 

 

In 10 short weeks I will be sharing my room with someone who will not be sleeping for 7 hour stretches for a quite a while.  I will have to get up to breastfeed and change her diaper.  I will need to see to do this.  I am not an easy sleeper.  I hope I will be able to sleep on her schedule during the day,  but napping isn't something I do easily.  I worry about not being able to fall back asleep after tending to my little one. 

 

What are some good compromises on the light issue?  I thought a red lamp.  Or just leaving the closet light on with the door cracked and just dealing with it. 
Suggestions?

[missmary]

yes on the red lamp, or even better, amber glasses. My guess is nursing can be done in the almost pitch black but diapers...not so easy. Here is an article from Chris Kresser on the issues around blue light. http://chriskresser.com/how-artificial-light-is-wrecking-your-sleep-and-what-to-do-about-it

 

Lots of luck and happiness in your new adventure!

[Velociraptor]

When my babies were still babies, I slept in a totally dark room too, I had my mattress and box spring on the floor and the baby slept in a Moses basket right next to me until she learned to roll over.  Having her right next to me made night feedings much easier because I didn't have to get out of warm covers and I could rub her back when she was fussy.  Once she started to roll over, I put her crib in my room, right next to my bed, put the bed back on the frame and I could still reach her.  Now, they are 10 and 7, I wish I could shrink them back sometimes  

[Tiffany Precissi]

My 12 week old has been in our pitch black room with us since birth. She sleeps in a cosleeper bassinet right next to me. We have one of those push lights that I placed in the pocket of the bassinet so it shines through just enough for me to barely see what I'm doing but it's not bright enough to bother my husband or make me have to squint. Being able to push it on and off through the pocket is very convenient.

 

Very early on my daughter was sleeping long stretches and would only wake 1-2 times a night. Now she has been sleeping through the night for a few weeks. Last night she slept from 9:30-8:30a!! I truly believe having it dark and the coolness/white noise of the ceiling fan play a huge part in that. 

 

A tip I got with our first child was to never talk or make eye contact with the baby during those night changes/feeds. It helps them stay sleepy instead of waking up and thinking it's play time. I did that from day 3 on with my first and I've done it the entire time with my second. It seems to work like a charm.

 

Best of luck!

[Heatherw]

We have a master suite with bathroom attached so I would just leave the 'toilet room' (WC? ha) door cracked with the light on. It's a pretty dim light. I think leaving your closet cracked would be about the same. You could put in a dimmer light bulb. Even with my third I just felt kind of discombobulated when the baby would wake and I just needed to be able to see - primarily because we had some latching issues with breastfeeding and I needed to make sure he was latched well, and also for the first few months he would poop in the night and I needed to make sure he got cleaned up well. It was surely nice to go back to a dark room after those issues subsided.

[megster2889]

I have a Hymalaian sea salt lamp that has a dimmer, I've been using it since a few weeks before my baby was born and I love it. It's great energy to, very inexpensive and just right for late night feelings. Can find them on amazon.

[Joey]

I agree with you and missmary on the red lamp (we just put red bulbs in our bedside lamps). Amber glasses are awesome but only work on the wearer, and I don't see you putting glasses on your sleeping husband and the baby every time you get up! The easier the rest of the family sleeps, the easier you'll sleep.

 

 

And congratulations!

[Bellatrix]

we coslept with our babies in bed with us, we used disposable nappies at night and only changed a really full nappy or a poo, otherwise it was boobing in bed and we would all go straight back to sleep.

[Melissa Urban]

We used a really dim nightlight when he woke up, so I could see him well enough to nurse. In the beginning, you'll probably want a bit more light, as you'll need to make sure he/she is latching correctly and comfortable and such. As you get more practice, you can do it half-asleep in the dark. We also had a side lamp with a red bulb, but I found it creepy, so we ditched it. 

 

When we moved him to his own room, we had the same setup in there - blackout curtains (even for daytime naps), a good swaddle, a really dim night light for nursing, and a fan noise playing at full volume for every nap/nighttime sleep. Works like a charm for us, but I know every baby is different.

 

Melissa

[Ravin]

Babies will sleep anywhere with any light or lack of it when tired. As long as you are close to hand they are unlikely to ever be frightened of the dark. I ditto others about minimizing how much you have to get up. Cosleep, and once you and the baby get the hang of things you won't need light or even to be entirely awake to latch on. Early months diaper changes--I used cloth, and used to keep a few right by the bed, so I didn't have to get out of bed to change the baby unless it was a poo. With my second I doubled the diapers and used pocket-style ones with fleece linings, so usually baby would be fine all night except for poo, which my son at least never did much of at night (he is in all ways an easier baby than my daughter was).

 

I would not set up naptimes like nighttime unless you want to be forever tied to the house, the curtains, and the noise fan for naptime. If  you babywear, they learn to sleep on you--paleo parenting for sure!

[askins]

I used a small flashlight to get latched and check the latch in the early days.  You can point it at the wall for diffuse light that's fairly soft.  We co-slept. 

 

My son pooped with EVERY nursing all night long until he was about three months old - ugh!!  My daughter never pooped at night her whole life.  So it's totally baby dependent.  I agree though - only change at night for a poop.

[Robin D]

I wish my daughter would have been one of those babies that slept anywhere any time even when she was tired; alas, that was not the case with her at all! After about 4 weeks we had to be home with her in her crib with black out curtains, etc., in order for her to nap (and if she didn't nap she didn't sleep well at night and she was an absolute bear by 5 pm). Once we got her sleep schedule down though, she slept super well.

We also didn't talk to her or do anything stimulating. Because of how crazy dark her room is we had to switch on a dim light when we changed her diaper. Nursing in the dark always put her out right away though.

[yummymumma]

Why do you need a light on all night? Can't you just rig up a soft light for nighttime changings?

 

We co sleep with my 7 wk old DD. I have a co sleeper (only used for stuff/as a bed rail) rigged up on one side of the bed, and one of those hanging star lights that I can turn on from the bed. However, I never use a light at night except to change her- and I have a portable soft light I can grab from the bed.

 

I feel like, at least if you're co sleeping, it's all about noise and touch. But, then again, I work well in dark light- I don't use one when I move around the house at night either.

 

Good luck!

[SaraP]

We had a small lamp with 3 different light settings that I just had to touch to change, so I would just flick it to the lowest setting when she woke up, change her real quick, get her to latch, then turn it off. 

 

I also had a very hard time falling asleep and napping before I had my first. Let me tell you, she changed that very quickly. By the end of the first week I was so exhausted I could sleep any time of day and be asleep in minutes.