As a parent, your job is to teach your baby the essential things in life and one of the very first tasks that you teach your child is to sleep and eat.
As the mother of two premature babies, I was upset that they spent time in the special care unit however I do have to thank them for sending home two babies in a perfect 4-hour sleep routine.
I tried my very best to keep this up however I realised that I did require some sleep aid along the way and new best friend was a set of removable Blackout Blinds. You see, as human beings, we are programmed to sleep best in a dark, quiet room as light suppresses the production of melatonin, which is the hormone that makes us sleepy. This means that both babies, children and adults can fall asleep more easily in a darker room than when there’s light beaming in. In fact, it’s especially crucial for babies to have blackout blinds in their room because babies have daytime sleep requirements and sometimes retire for the evening while it is still light outside especially during Summer.
With two children I can vouch for the fact that some kids are better sleepers than others. I tried my best to always let bub self settle however in those very early months, Sophie and Daniel would often fall asleep while I was feeding them in their room from my rocking chair. Sophie was a better natural sleeper and would often doze off in her baby bean bag however Daniel needed a dark room in order to nap and would fight sleep for as long as he could.
I love how easy it is to put us the removable Blackout Blind
I hear some of you saying ” but I want my child to be able to sleep anywhere as I won’t always be at home during nap time“. Mamma, I’ve got your back and I am a big advocate for living life, so don’t let your bubs sleep habits steer you if you have to be somewhere.
If I was at the shops and it was nap time
- I covered the pram in a dark coloured, breathable pram cover
- If in the car I would use window shades or cut reusable cutout blinds to size and block the bright light from the sidecar window.
I was often out and about with my kids and always planned to be out in the morning, often doing the groceries at 8 am as I was up so early. As my children got a little older and reverted to midday only naps, I would leave the park or shops when they were due for a nap and they would often sleep in the car on the way home. When home I would park somewhere cool and safe, in my case it was the garage behind a full brick fence (never on the street or in the sun) and I’d often put the baby monitor in the car so that I could hear them when they woke.
If I was home they would go to sleep in a dark room with the exact same music playing every time. In our case, it was a lullaby compilation by Jewel. Sophie still put this on for herself every single night and when they are away in the caravan they opt for James Blunt, which is my 9-year-old Daniels choice.
If you are going on a holiday
Blackout Blinds are fantastic. We used the reusable ones that rolled up, this meant that we could easily pull them off and roll them up to take on holidays, after all, you never know what the sunlight will be like where you are planning to stay.
I believe that Blackout Blinds will help your child fall asleep quicker and STAY asleep. What’s not to love?
