The New Parent's Guide to Buying More Sleep (It Involves Windows) -- S Post

If you've already got children, you'll know exactly what direction this article is heading in. If not, you'll find it invaluable in several months’ time when your new addition is giving you stretches of sleepless nights.

Some people might think that the above term is overused, but as any new parent will testify there really isn't any such thing as a good night's sleep during the opening few months. Even if your baby is one of the few who wanted twelve ours of shut eye, their need for feeding means that this just isn't possible.

Bearing this in mind, you need to do everything you can to maximize the chances of you experiencing a solid night's sleep. As the title has already indicated - one of the best ways to do this is through your window treatments.

In the midst of buying cots, toys and all sorts of other accessories, it's not surprising that the windows are often forgotten about. However, this is the area of your baby's room (or your room initially) where most natural light will be able to seep in. As we all know, natural light can disturb an adult's sleeping patterns at the best of times, so when it comes to a newborn the effect is multiplied (for him or her, and you).

Even though blinds are often forgotten about, the way to at least give yourself the best possible chance of netting a decent night's sleep doesn't have to be expensive or even troublesome. The simplest solution comes in the form of blackout blinds - a product which has been donning the market for years. As the name suggests, these literally make the room into a blackout - preventing any sort of natural light from entering providing they have been fitted correctly. Immediately, your chances of a good night's sleep have improved tenfold.

In some ways, the article could stop here. After all, you’ve just blocked out all of the light from your baby’s room and at this stage in their life, there is little else you can do (from a window blind perspective, anyway).

However, if you do have one eye on the future, it might be worth considering making an additional investment in these blackout blinds. A lot of them will have this functionality installed anyway, but cordless options are by far and away preferred when it comes to children for the simple reason that they promote much more safety. They have been released in response to the strangulation risks caused by traditional cords and if you do envisage keeping this current set of blackout blinds for the foreseeable future, it might be worth going the whole way and buying a cordless product for when your child gets old enough to explore.



Hopefully the above will at least buy you a few more hours sleep every week. As your baby starts to develop the need for a pitch black room, and one with as little distractions as possible at night-time, will dwindle. For now though, it’s all about doing everything you can to boost everyone’s sleep in the house.