Is it important for a baby's room to be dark?

In short, the answer is 'Yes!'... If you’ve looked into sleep training before and/or you are looking to get your bubba into a routine, you may have noticed or been told how vital it is for your baby to sleep in a dark room. Darkness and light set our body clock- the circadian rhythm.

We set babies and toddlers out on a schedule of 7am-7pm because the sleep hormone melatonin peaks at 7pm (in line with baby’s bedtime) and cortisol peaks at 7am (when they wake). During the daytime we are all ‘high’ on cortisol with a few natural dips during the course of the day.

For a baby to recognise daytime nap times, not only are routine and some clever sleep cues in the lead up to nap important (the practical element of sleep training) but it is also really vital for a baby or toddler to have the hormonal imperative to sleep at these nap times- darkness at nap times will help pump out melatonin during the lighter daytime napping hours and aid them in their process of falling asleep. It takes about 8 minutes of being in the dark for the eye to be receptive and tell the brain to start releasing melatonin. The body is very clever and will remember this for the next day and get ready to release this wonder hormone at the same times 24hrs later! This is how routine starts to ‘kick in’ the the body remembers what it did the day before.

A dark room creates a comforting womb like environment for a baby, they will prefer this dark sleep space. Babies have no theory upon which to base any fear of the dark...Toddlers however, are a different story! I ALWAYS recommend a red night light for them in their dark room, red light does not disrupt natural melatonin production as a white/blue /yellow/green light does.

Happy sleeping!