# Room darkening or light filtering window coverings



## ExiledBayStater (Feb 16, 2013)

It's time to pick out miniblinds for the nursery. Does anybody have experiences on how much light should be let in? On one hand, light-filtering blinds would keep the room bright during the daytime so the baby would learn to sleep at night. On the other hand, the baby is going to be born in the summer and it will be light out from 5 AM to 8 PM. Or does it even matter?


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## john117 (May 20, 2013)

I don't think it matters. The only time we ever used darkening window coverings was in DD23's apartment because of a 27" 4K monitor . Babies adapt a lot easier.

Depending on budget there's some clever ideas out there. Or you can use blinds and curtains.


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## ExiledBayStater (Feb 16, 2013)

john117 said:


> I don't think it matters. The only time we ever used darkening window coverings was in DD23's apartment because of a 27" 4K monitor . Babies adapt a lot easier.
> 
> Depending on budget there's some clever ideas out there. Or you can use blinds and curtains.


A couple nights ago I caught headlights through standard blinds and curtains. The room we're sleeping in now is going to be the nursery. Those day/night blinds look good but our windows arent deep enough.

I think we can do darkening blinds and standard curtains, and we always have the option to draw or turn the blinds during the day.


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## Adelais (Oct 23, 2013)

ExiledBayStater said:


> A couple nights ago I caught headlights through standard blinds and curtains. The room we're sleeping in now is going to be the nursery. Those day/night blinds look good but our windows arent deep enough.
> 
> I think we can do darkening blinds and standard curtains, and we always have the option to draw or turn the blinds during the day.


It's exciting to get things ready for a baby! Glad you're having fun.

Babies sleep when they are tired, whether it is light or dark. They will sleep in broad daylight, and they will be wide awake at night too. Just put something up that will keep direct sunshine from coming in.

If you plan for the nursery to become the child's bedroom when he/she is a toddler, shop for that. Put up room darkening blinds, so when you put the toddler down for a nap they aren't too distracted by all the things in the room that they can see.


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## Cara (Aug 15, 2010)

Forget it, babies sleep whenever and wherever. Also, blinds are a bad idea IMO because walking babies and small kids will tear them to pieces, so why waste the money?

I am no parenting expert, but we have two boys, 7 & 8, who have not temper tantrumed more than a dozen times between them, will try any food put in front of them and politely eat what they are served, do their homework when told and are decent people who love themselves, their family and God. So, here is my advice. We have no binds in the kids rooms. My mom made some simple flannel curtains in cute prints that block about half of the light coming through the windows in bright daylight. The kids had no problem taking naps as they grew up and now are able to fall asleep in the summer when it is still light out at 9 P.M. (Their bedtime is 8.)

We allow one of them a nightlight because he will be asleep 5 minutes after he is in bed no matter what, but the other has to have all lights off or he will read all night long. Your kid is an individual and you will have to find his/her own rhythm and tastes as you get to know him/her.

It is common for first time parents to want to protect their babies form anything annoying, but I think this is a mistake. Life is often a series of annoyances followed by intentional disturbance sprinkled with chaos. I believe that if babies learn to deal with things that unpleasant but routine parts of life, they will grow into happy, functional, successful people. Of course, maybe I was blessed with kids who are much more easy going than most kids, but I like to think that we did a good job forming them.:wink2:


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## soccermom2three (Jan 4, 2013)

It never occurred to me to think of this issue. I think we just had mini blinds in the nursery.


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## Anonymous07 (Aug 4, 2012)

I love room darkening curtains. Heck, we not only have them for our toddler's room, but even have some for our room(helps with your heating and cooling bill, too). My son is very sensitive to his surroundings, so the room darkening curtains have been essential to helping him sleep better along with a white noise machine. We bought our room darkening curtains from Walmart(Eclipse brand I believe). They were cheap and work well. 

Every child is different and while some can do just fine without, my son is not one of them. He was/is a high needs baby/kid. He is super aware of his surroundings and sensitive to change. He needs the consistent routine and calm, darkened room to sleep well.


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## turnera (Jan 22, 2010)

My DD's doctor told me not to make her life too sterile, not to be too concerned. He said that the more I 'safeguard' her experiences, the less likely she'd be able to handle future adversities. Pretty wise man for a guy in his 80s.


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