In this article we try to address 5 common questions which have been repeatedly raised in relation to the use of a Night Light for baby rooms. This article serves to provide some simple guidance relating to using a night light in a baby room. 

These questions are as follows:

1. Do babies need a night light?

2. What color night light is best for babies?

3. Are night lights bad for a baby?

4. What type of night light is suggested for a baby?

5. What is the best baby Night light for baby rooms?– see our recommended night light

6. Top 5 Night Lights for Baby Room

7. Conclusion

It is best to not play music as this disrupts the brain from getting into a good sleep pattern overnight. Instead what has been suggested is to play white noise, which is a constant sound which can also prevent general household noises from waking your baby.

Red light is better than other colors.  More on this topic below.

It goes without saying that no one knows your baby better than the ones looking after them.

Therefore, it does no harm to try which type of lighting your baby prefers more i.e. total darkness or with a dimly lit night light.

I caveat this statement by saying that children (whilst they are not robots) will change their habits continuously and therefore you may find that using a combination of darkness and a night light may give you the results to achieving your child having a good night sleep

Apologies for the scientific content and length, but it is important to understand the reasoning for the color choice.

Red light has been found to be the best lighting colour for babies whilst sleeping. So what do we know about red light and its impact on babies. Here is some information around the topic of Red Light for baby sleeping at night times:

Our body clocks are controlled by the circadian rhythm (mother nature’s way of telling us when it is time to sleep). Circadian rhythm starts from birth, and develops more advanced around 1 year of age.

As a result of circadian rhythm, humans become tired naturally when it starts getting dark outside, which then makes our brain signal to the body to start creating melatonin.

Also known as the sleep hormone, which is produced naturally at birth which regulates wakefulness and effects sleep quality and the body’s ability to regulate body temperature, blood pressure and glucose levels.

Red light supports the highest level of melatonin production.

When the sleep hormone melatonin is produced, it has a secondary benefit - it increases muscle relaxation, another natural inducer to sleep.

Red light therapy has broad attraction and suits any parenting style and family needs, and any age of baby, child or teenager. When children are well rested they are happier, smarter and easier to manage.

Years of studies have shown night lights have been recommended for years as sleep aides in children's bedrooms to help them feel comfortable, safe and secure. As you may have seen in many night lights are in the shape of adorable animals and stars but do not feature a red light source, which one could perhaps says misses the point of having these lights in the first place if they do not have the optimal lighting color.

Blue, white, or green light rays - however dimly lit - can be harmful to sleep as they emit blue light waves. Blue light is a stimulant that actually increases and motivates attention and reaction times, which reduces the making of melatonin by our bodies.

100s of Scientific studies have been published with medical studies conducted on the positive effect of light therapy. Its value as a therapeutic aid is unquestionable due to the specific wavelength frequency of red light which is distinct and very different from other light colours.

Warm, ambient red light is recommended by sleep experts as the most suitable colour for soothing sleep.

As night falls, we turn lights on in our home. The most common form of light emission is blue lights and whites from smart phones, laptops and almost all forms of ceiling lights. White and blue based lights prevents the body’s production of melatonin by making the brain believe it is still daylight.

Many parents are perhaps worried that using any form of lighting in their baby or child's room will cause sleep disruption. They would choose to have total darkness for a newborn, as babies have just come from the dark environment within the mother’s womb.

Even though it has been studied that as babies grow, their sleep patterns change around 4 to 6 months whereupon a completely dark environment can cause them to be scared. Babies cannot see their environment if they wake up during the night, therefore if parents start their night light routine with a red light from birth, this will create an ambient and familiar environment. In the first few days, the sleep habit may change for better or for worse.

However in the coming days, you will see the benefit of the melatonin production and soothing red light on your child's character, and their ability to fall asleep and hopefully stay asleep.

Children no matter the age can go through various phases of nightmares, and being afraid of the dark is quite common. Red functioning night lights are a much better idea than leaving other gadgets on to provide comfort.  Children need to have routine, and having a consistent use of red light therapy promotes a friendly and safe environment for them.

A late summer sunset can cause a lot of disruption to a child’s routines. As it's often still light outside during the normal bedtime hours of 6-7pm, children's bodies and minds are still stimulated to staying awake and not naturally winding down.

It is a good idea to therefore create a bedroom environment that simulates nightfall to help melatonin production.

Perhaps it is time to invest a few dollars in some black cardboard for the windows, additionally solid blinds and then add a red night light to create a warm glow in the room.

During the height of the summer when sun rise usually starts at 4.30am, the closed environment you have created with blinds or black cardboard has the added benefit of blocking the 4.45am Summer sunrise, which in turn gives you extra time of much needed sleep.

Whilst night lights have been suggested as not being bad for your baby, there are a few guidelines which you could follow to ensure your night light is beneficial to your babies sleep. As such the next point below provides some guidance as to the type of night light which would be best suited for your child.

Again this is down to personal preference but I would say that a night light would have the following characteristics:

- Ability to produce Red Light. Given the discussion on point 2 above it would be good for a night light to produce red light.

- Ability to adjust the levels of lighting to suit your environment (low level for breastfeeding and higher levels for perhaps nappy changing etc).

- Ability to produce “white noise”. Most night lights produce lullaby type nursery music which has been shown to disrupt baby sleeping patterns during the night, instead make sure that if a night light plays any form of music it is “white noise” music which is a constant noise (google for samples).

- Portable- Given that this light is used during the night, you will want one that is portable and perhaps uses a rechargeable battery to enable you to carry around without wires being a nusance.

- Ease to Use – Investing in a night light that can be used with one hand during darkness is probably best. Any light that has multiple buttons and difficult to operate during darkness will only enhance your stress levels more…. Something you can do without I am sure!

Firstly I appreciate there are lot of cuddly, cute animal type lamps that display stars on the ceiling, which is great for anyone who can see and enjoy these light shows but babies do not see much up until 6-8 months old. 

Up until this point the focus of the night lamp should be on how useful it is for the babies parent who needs this light for night time activities such as breast feeding and diaper changing.

Whilst there are many night lights on the market the one which we can recommend and suggest which meets the guidelines above is the Baby Mood Lamp. The reasons for this recommendation are as follows:

-Ability to produce Red Light – This lamp not produces Red Light but it also produces 6 other colorful lights that can be used during other times during the day.

-Ability to vary the levels of brightness – 3 levels of brightness are possible with this lamp thus enabling you to just the lighting to suit your needs.

-Ability to produce “white noise” – A Bluetooth speaker located on the top of the lamp enables “white noise” to be streamed from Bluetooth enabled devices such as your mobile phone or laptop thus enabling your child to sleep without being disturbed by other household noises.

This night light can also be used to stream some of your favourite music if you so wish thus allowing adults to enjoy the night lamp as well. If you have your hands with a babe-in-arms then this night light will serve as a hands free speaker for your phone as well! Bonus!

-Portable and super light in weight (approx. 1lb) in weight and using a detachable USB cable to charge the light in under 4 hours means that this light is very portable and can be carried easily with one hand to anywhere in the house.

So portable is this night light that you can pack it in your suitcase and use on your holidays!

-Easy to use – Incredibly easy to use the lamp has only one button which can be used by one finger to switch on/off/enable Bluetooth mode (press 2 times in quick succession) and then the touch sensitive speaker located on the top of the night light can be tapped to change from white light to red light (hold finger on top of light for 2 seconds) and vice-versa.

- Durable - Given our darling children love to play with anything they can get their hands on, the material of this lamp is made of ABS material which is not only harmless but extremely strong to withstand any knocks it may receive at the hands of our darlings.

We hope you have found this article of use to you and that the night light we recommend is of not only joy but also reduces the stress that easily can be found during the night times for your child.