Game Changing Baby Sleep Tip: Help Get Baby to Sleep, Have Longer Naps (Baby Blackout Blinds)

0:00 Today I'm going to share with you one really simple thing that you can do your baby's room right now, which honestly has the potential to be a game changer in regards to your baby's sleep. My sister who has a four month old baby, did this over the weekend and her four month old baby, who previously only slept for 30 to 40 minutes in the day, is now having one and a half to two hour naps and he's now falling asleep when she's taking him into the room really quickly.

0:25 So he's settling really quickly where in the past it was for around 20 minutes. Now, in addition to sharing Secret with you, I'm going to share with you the product that I use that ensures that I can achieve this feature in any room that I put my baby to sleep in. So whether that be a motel, a friend's place or a relative's place, I can definitely achieve this feature by using this product. So make sure you stick around to know exactly which one to get.

0:53 If you're new to this channel, my name is Emma and this channel is all about helping you become an extremely confident parent by sharing the tips and tricks I've learned along the way, practicing as a pediatric occupational therapist, and also being a mum to two children. So if you want to make parenting significantly easier for yourself, make sure you start now by subscribing and hitting that bell so you won't miss a thing. Now before we get into it, I just want to let you know there's a free PDF document in the description box below which covers the developmental milestones you can be expecting for your baby in their first year of life.

1:24 Make sure you click on that and then you can print it out and it'll give you an invaluable peace of mind as you'll know when you what your child should be doing and when to be concerned. So what is the one thing that you can do right now to make your baby sleep significantly better? It is make your baby's bedroom completely dark. Now darkness is a non negotiable feature of any baby's room for daytime naps and nighttime sleeps.

1:48 And when I mean dark, it should be pitch black. So dark enough that you can't actually read a book. Now, we want it to be dark in your baby's room for 33 reasons. Now the first reason is because it helps to neutralize the bedroom. So basically when you go into a pitch black room, your baby cannot actually see anything. So then they're going to find it easier to fall asleep because they're not going to be stimulated and want to look at the pictures or the objects in the room.

2:13 It makes the room essentially boring. So they will actually fall asleep. Now I've got a perfect example which I think illustrates this perfectly. When I was on holidays with my sister and her three month old baby. At the time we were in a motel and my sister was trying to put the three month old baby to sleep in the day for a quick nap. And after an hour of trying she came out and the baby hadn't fallen asleep.

2:38 I offered to give it a go and I walked into the room which she was trying to put the baby to sleep in and it had shutter blinds so there was light come pouring into the room essentially and it was really, really bright. And when I was holding the baby he was looking around everywhere to have a look at all the new pictures because it's a completely new room for him. Now I noticed there was an ensuite in there with no window.

3:01 So essentially I went into the ensuite and I closed the door and then we're in a pitch back black room and I just settled the baby that way and he fell asleep within five minutes and then I was able to put into his porticot and transfer him and then he had a nap. So that just illustrates perfectly how having a pitch black room means that your baby is actually going to be able to find it easier to fall asleep because they're not going to be stimulated by everything that's going on in that room.

3:31 The second reason you want a pitch black room is because your baby will develop the skills to link sleep cycles anywhere from four to six months. So previously at three months they would have started cat napping which is doing one sleep cycle, so 30 to 40 minute naps and then they'd wake up. But after four months they start to develop the ability to link sleep cycles. Now if they're at this age and the bedroom is completely black, then when they wake up between a sleep cycle, so they'll sleep for 40 minutes and then they'll wake up briefly.

4:03 Now if they're not, if they're still tired and they're not hungry, they're not uncomfortable, then they will actually go back to sleep because there's nothing in the room to stimulate them and wake them up fully. So then they'll start linking those sleep cycles and you'll get longer daytime naps which will definitely be amazing. And the third reason you want a pitch black room is because the dark room will actually become a sleep queue for your baby.

4:29 So when they go into a dark room, they'll realize, oh, this is what normally happens when I go to sleep. And. And so they'll be easier to settle. And the other reason is it helps to kick start your baby's internal body clock or circadian rhythm. So light actually wakes babies up or any human. It actually helps wake us up in the morning. So having a dark room, particularly at nighttime, from when they go to bed to the desired wake up time, is extremely important.

5:00 So now we know why it's really important to have a room that's pitch black when you're trying to put a baby to sleep. When you're. The next question is how do you achieve it in motel rooms, at people's houses or in your own house if you don't have that blackout blinds? My answer to that question is the grow anywhere blinds. I would highly recommend that you go out and get these straight away. I will put a link to a supply in the description box below which you can click on.

5:28 But these have been my lifesaver. So. So they are essentially blackout blinds which it's blackout material which has suction caps on the end so you can stick it directly onto glass. If there's a fly screen on the window, you just take out the fly screen and then you can put this on. The other thing is that it has Velcro so you can change the width of the blackout blinds to suit multiple size windows, which is fantastic.

5:55 I find that I actually need two of these blinds for my child to ensure that I'm able to cover the windows in each bedroom. So I continue to use these blackout blinds with my 2 year old and my 4 year old because it ensures that they will sleep through the night and they'll actually wake at 6:30 or 7:00', clock, which is amazing. And it actually helps with my 2 year old still when I put him down for his day nap.

6:25 No matter where we are, I can put these blinds up. The black room is a cue that it's his bedtime and he will fall asleep really quickly. So that's it. Parents, you know why your baby's room should be dark and how to achieve it. Right now, make sure you click on that developmental checklist in the description box below. And hopefully I'll see you next week where I'll share more parenting tips and tricks.