When can my baby nap in a dark room?
A lot of the advice for napping in light vs dark applies to newborns who have day and night confusion. Very young newborns (younger than 11 weeks old), do not have an established circadian rhythm. That means they don’t produce sleep hormones and take their cues for being awake or asleep by their environment.
When they have day and night confusion, they are often sleepy during the day and wide awake, ready to party at night. By keeping it light during the day and dark at night, we can help to establish their circadian rhythm before their body takes over for them.
After 8-11 weeks, you may find that your sleepy newborn is more aware of their surroundings and has trouble napping well in a bright environment (unless they’re being held/worn, etc). When that happens, it is definitely okay to have them nap in a dark room because they will still get plenty of bright light during their awake periods.
If you have an older infant/child (like over 4 months), you may find that they struggle with short naps in bright rooms and tweaking their environment to PITCH BLACK may be the simple fix to extending their day time naps.
Being able to nap in a bright or only dim room for naps is a temperament/personality trait. It isn’t something that you can train your baby to do. So if you’re really struggling with sleep, environment is one of the first puzzle pieces we want to look at fixing.
This doesn’t mean they’ll never sleep outside of a pitch black environment- it just means you’re providing the optimal sleep environment for them to get the best sleep where they sleep the majority of the time. It’s the 80/20 rule and it’s a great way to live life. ;)
Blogs with more information:
If you’re still struggling with sleep and need more help, check out the 1:1 options!
