Is a baby night light too stimulating for my baby to sleep?

Aloni Benau July 6, 2018

In the ever-evolving list of things to do to get your baby to sleep, the checklist that weary mums and dads need to work through can be daunting. Make sure the nursery is dark enough; have background noise (but not too much background noise) and keep the room temperature fluctuating between specific temperatures (depending on how many layers your child is wearing/sleeping under). But perhaps at the top of the list is the need to avoid stimulating your little one in the lead-up to bedtime. No screens; no lights. So it’s understandable that one of the questions we’re constantly quizzed on is how our Glow Dreaming units have such a high success rate - particularly seeing as it uses a light as one of its key features.

Try to be techno savvy

There’s no doubt that technology has some impact on how quickly we fall asleep and how restful our sleep actually is – and that goes for adults too! As bedtime draws closer, it’s time to be conscious of how much stimulation your child is getting from technology. Try switching the TV off, take away toys with sounds and lights and replace them with books, soft toys and puzzles, or let your child play with bath toys during a long soak. But keep in mind that not all lights will discourage your baby to sleep. And there’s a handy colour code to work it out:

Blue light

When it comes to trying to get your baby to sleep, view blue light as the ‘bad guy’. Blue light is what your screen omits when you’re lying in bed checking Facebook on your phone, or watching late-night Netflix. You’ve probably noticed that it makes you alert. In fact, the experts at Harvard state that your sleep directly suffers from the blue wavelengths – and it’s most disruptive at night. Tip: Don’t let your child watch The Wiggles too close to bedtime!

Green light

Green means go and for your Glow Dreaming unit, it’s the perfect colour to go ahead and use for your baby’s daytime play sessions. While green light technology doesn’t help to induce sleep for your little one, it does have remarkable benefits in terms of boosting their overall mood and happiness which will reduce their number of tantrums. Particularly during these cooler months, use the green light to notice an improvement in your child’s mood. Think of Glow Dreaming’s Green LED as an added bonus – it won’t help your baby sleep (read ‘Red light’ below for that), but it will help to calm your child. Winning! Sparked your interest? You can learn all about the green light here.

Red light

To send your baby to the land of nod, switch the Red LED light of your Glow Dreaming unit on. Don’t be scared of the light! While it might take a few days for your bub to get used to, using the red light can pay off in the long-run. Trust us. The RED light isn’t too stimulating for babies and the secret? It helps your child to produce the natural hormone melatonin. Even better, is that once your baby is used to the RED light, they’re more likely to self-settle when they do wake up - rather than interrupt your night. We've helped over 50,000 families find the sleep they need with Glow Dreaming! We’re proud that our units have helped bring back sleep to deserving parents across the country!