Babies who only sleep in pitch black and quiet surroundings

[TrixieLox]

I met a friend for lunch the other day and there were two girls on table next to us with massive blankets over their LOs' prams to block out light. They also flinched and looked worried whenever there was too much noise. But there my friend and I were, our LOs sleeping in full glaring light right next to a loud kitchen.

I've also noticed people walking around shopping with coats slung over their older babies to block out light so they can sleep.

My friend said lot of books recommend complete darkness for babies. But isn't it better to get them used to sleeping anywhere and everywhere?

Just interested in what you guys think! I do have black out blinds in LO's room but beyond that, she tends to sleep even if bright lights are glaring in her face and One Direction is blaring out on TV (my little sister's choice of TV, not mine ;-)

 

[Pielette]

Depends on the baby I've found.

My eldest needed (still does unless it's the magic car ride) pitch black and quiet. From an early age he needed to be in his cot for naps. He was extremely inflexible! There was no way I'd have gotten him to go to sleep in his pushchair in a restaurant.

My little one is more flexible. He is still happy to sleep mostly anywhere, although sometimes he insists it's on me in his carrier. They're all different really. I'm glad my baby is more adaptable in that sense, because when Noah was a baby everything had to be schedule around his naps. Complete pain!

 

[Dollybird]

My LO varies. If he's fallen asleep somewhere noisey then he sleeps fine with it. If he's fallen asleep somewhere quiet then noise begins it will waken him. Light doesn't bother him but sometimes if we're out I put a muslin partially over the pram to block out distractions as he sometimes is too nosey for his own good! But most of the time he'll sleep anywhere. As I said it depends on his mood and the situation xx

 

[amjon]

Mine will sleep through just about anything. If hate if it had to be pitch black/ super quiet.

 

[iiTTCii]

My LO will sleep anywhere during the day. If we are out, she will sleep in the car/out in the pram. At home, I put her in her cot to nap and I do tend to shut one of the curtains so it's not as bright.

 

[lanaross]

depends on a baby hun.
though question for you - after a long and challenging day when all you did was learning and practicing something new physically and mentally, would you have preferred to sleep in a quiet dark room or in a room with everybody talking/loud TV and sun glaring in your eye? In the end if you're tired, it really wouldn't matter but the quality of sleep/rest is not the same.

 

[Dollybird]

That's what I kinda think too-- although my wee lamb will tend to sleep anywhere and with anything going on, when I'm in the house I always try and keep things quiet when he's napping (although if it's during day I leave curtain open to keep his circadian rhythms in check ) my MIL always gives me a hard time about it as she is always going in about how you need to get then used to noise but thing is we wouldn't be pleased with that as adults so why should we expect our kiddies to. And anyhows as I always tell her he sleeps fine outside the house in his pram- busy noisy places so me keeping the house quiet during naps can't be doing any harm. As I said the only problem with this can be if visitors turn up and he's napping the sudden noise will waken him whereas had it been noisy when he fell asleep he will just keep sleeping. Xxx

 

[sue_88]

My LO sleeps anywhere, anyway, anyhow. Always has done.

She's fairly nosey so if she's staring out & whining I put a cover over to help her settle herself off to sleep.

 

[MrsButterfly]

We tried so hard to get lo to sleep anywhere. And to start with he did. But then out of nowhere at 7months he decided he would only sleep in his cot and in the dark. Have no clue what changed but something did.

As with all parenting things, we all start out with the best of intentions but ultimately do whatever needed to get some sleep!

 

[Noo]

If I'm home he naps down stairs unless I'm napping with him. I only tilt the blinds during the day but have blackout blinds and curtains at night. We use white noise but night time only.

 

[My_First]

I think the coats/snooze shades etc. are not always because of light but also stimulation. I know when my lo was teeny I would drape a muslin over his pram if we were out so as not to over stimulate him, which in turn helped him sleep.

 

[Noo]

Yeah, most of the time the covers are to stop the babies being to distracted by the world to sleep

 

[missusgee]

I try to differentiate between day and night time sleep. Day naps can be noisy surroundings or quiet but I try to keep it light to make sure he knows the difference between day naps and 'proper' bedtime.

The past few nights I've put him down in his cot when he's awake but turned off lights (bar a night light) to allow him to wind down and settle himself to sleep. I do put ewan the dream sheep on a give him a dummy but he often spits it out. It may take 30 minutes to an hour for him to drift off but he doesn't really cry and seems to enjoy the time to wind down.

I'm fully aware this will probably change though.....

 

[HKateH]

Naps are light with household noises (toilet flushing, stairs creaking, washing machine) whereas night time is dark and quiet. As my LO gets older I don't worry as much about noise whereas when he was younger I was always worried about him waking - particularly with naps.

Some babies are so difficult to get to sleep (I have a bad napper) that you'll do just about anything to keep them that way, especially if you're out and had to walk around the block hundreds of times to persuade LO to nap. We went to Spain when LO was four months and during the evenings he slept in his pram with a black out sun shade over the top - we did everything in our power to stop him waking as it'd be tough getting him to settle if he did.

One thing I've learned as a parent is all babies are different. What works for one won't necessarily work for another. It used to irritate me when everyone said how LO should get used to napping with noise as some babies just can't. It's no reflection of parents being uptight or too strict - I spent a lot of time worrying that my terrible napper was because of something I was doing wrong. In reality he just doesn't want to miss out. Even now he's more used to a little noise, we still can't count on naps in busy restaurants or out shopping.

 

[bananaz]

Getting babies accustomed to sleeping anywhere is a wonderful idea in theory, but for a lot of babies that just isn't going to happen. Back in my naive pregnant days I told people that my child wouldn't have any issue napping in bright, noisy places because I'd make sure she was exposed to them regularly. I thought that parents who tiptoed around the house while their babies slept were dumb and making a rod for their own backs. Let's just say that I was very very wrong

Babies who are easily overstimulated NEED quiet, dark spaces for sleep. My life got much easier once I accepted that fact and started creating a sleep environment that worked around my LO's needs, rather than expecting her to cave to what I wanted from her.

So... if you have a baby who will sleep anywhere, consider yourself lucky and go with it. I still think that sleep in a quiet, dark place is important at nighttime (as others have mentioned), but if your kid will take a nap in a shopping cart then more power to you!

Also, I want to add that your babies won't be babies forever, and chances are they'll outgrow their need for restrictive sleep environments soon enough. My daughter used to need a really dark room and loud white noise to sleep well, but now as a toddler she loves having a bright LED clock in her room and every night she turns on her overhead projector to watch as she goes to sleep. She's a much more flexible sleeper in just about every way these days, so hang in there, it does get better!

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

depends on age too. I cover baby else people try and look in pram lol