Q: Can blackout curtains cause toddler sleep problems?

Should you use blackout curtains so your toddler can sleep in? Should you use them for your toddler’s daytime naps?

Blackout curtains: a useful tool for toddler sleep as long as you avoid certain circadian rhythm pitfalls

Blackout curtains can support sleep for adults if used correctly, but are they getting in the way of your toddler’s good sleep habits?

When two people ask the same thing on the same day, I know it’s a timely topic! So thank you to the community members asking to know about best use of blackout curtains for toddler sleep.

Should you use blackout curtains to help toddlers sleep?

There are 2 reasons I do recommend blackout curtains for toddler sleep in certain situations (those are that the end of the post).

But first, why might you not want to use them?

One of the tricks about blackout curtains is they tend to stay closed past sunrise unless someone wakes up to open them.

This can lead to extended morning/daytime sleep patterns, especially in toddlers whose circadian rhythm is still developing.

This may feel convenient in the moment if you yourself feel like sleeping in, or when you want to get up ahead of your little tyke.

This comes around again at naptime.

Sleeping a toddler in a cool, dark, room with white noise or an air conditioner may help them nap longer.

When was the last time enjoyed the productivity while your toddler takes an extended daytime nap in a dark room? How did it work out later in the day?

I know I have done this, and sometimes it works out just great.

But, it can also turn into a vicious cycle at bedtime/overnight if a toddler has been getting these extra dark signals during the morning and day and contributes to them being unable to wind down in the evening.

Or, sometimes a toddler can fall asleep at bedtime after these extended morning sleep-ins and daytime naps, but then are restless and can’t sleep through the night.

Newborn sleep vs toddler sleep

Newborns sleep and feed around the clock as part of their natural rhythm.

As their circadian rhythms mature, their sleep starts consolidating.

Here’s what that looks like in the first year:

Toddlers are in the throes of circadian development.

They still eat, sleep, and eliminate more less frequently than a newborn.

But while a toddler is headed in a more adult direction with napping, weaning and potty-learning… well, they aren’t quite there yet.

For the whole scoop on this 2-3+ year process, I recommend my circadian babyhood workshop.

Depending on your lifestyle, there are basically 2 paths you can take with supporting a toddler’s circadian rhythms and avoiding the blackout curtain —> restless night toddler sleep cycle.

2 strategies for supporting toddler’s sleep and circadian rhythms

Both of these toddler sleep strategies I’m going to share here involve supporting the toddler’s sleep consolidation process with biological circadian cues.

Both strategies support circadian entrainment and maturation. The two main targets are increasing the stability & strength of their circadian rhythms.

These strategies work from the toddler stage and into childhood, puberty, and eventually adulthood.

First circadian strategy for toddler sleep: stability

For working families utilizing daycare, your main tool is going to be stability.

You are unlikely to have the flexibility to follow the sun (especially so the farther from the equator you live).

Instead, you are going to be using a mix of natural and artificial light to enforce a rhythm that fits within the constraints of your schedules.

Your main circadian priority is getting everyone out the door on clock-time (not necessarily solar time).

A consistent and healthy sleep routine can in turn support consistent morning departures for school and work.

Opening the blackout curtains and cracking the window can help with natural light and temperature coming into the sleeping area.

You’ll want to do open the blackout curtains for your toddler as soon as you yourself wake up in the morning.

Even if your toddler continues sleeping a little while longer, the light, noise, and fresh air can help signal them it is time to wake up soon.

A more gradual wake up with the sunlight may help be less grumpy and disoriented when its time for them to wake all the way up.

Taking them outside for a few minutes when it is really time for them to get up is also a great way to dispel grumpiness or grogginess in your toddler.

Daylight bulbs and daycare/school options with real access to the outdoors can also help with getting your child the light stimulation they need to fully wake up.

I’ve previously shared about other ways you can design your home to be more circadian-friendly here.

Opening windows during morning commute is another common strategy for working families.

This routine that allows just a little more natural light and temperature cues compared with having the vehicle’s windows sealed.

Anything you can do to emphasize the warmth, brightness, and noise levels of the day will help yout toddler develop a stronger circadian rhythm, too.

Keeping the stable timing is one aspect of circadian health, while emphasizing the difference between day and night is the other.

I wrote more about leaning into multiple circadian cues together, especially in times of stress, here.

Your goal is to give your toddler the light, social, and feeding cues they need for their bodies to understand it time to release daytime hormones in daytime so they can in turn fully rest, repair, and grow at night under the release of nighttime hormones.

This is why waking up or napping in a cool, dark, quiet room can be confusing from a circadian rhythm standpoint, especially for a toddler whose circadian rhythm is not yet fully mature.

Since, as a working family, you probably only allot your family 8-10 hours for rest at night, it’s important for night to be the coolest, darkest, quietest time if you want your toddler to sleep through this night.

Now you can see why a silent, air-conditioned room with blackout curtains could be problematic by making your toddler’s brain and body think it is nighttime when it isn’t really.

Thus, to wind all the way back to the original question: opening the curtains for them in the morning can help their bodies be more closely aligned to the actual time of day (solar time).

It can facilitate the healthy morning rise in cortisol.

For naps, a warmer, noisier environment can also help them sleep for an appropriate length based on the time of day.

Remember that over time, your toddler is going to be dropping those naps as their circadian rhythm matures (if you keep them in a 14+ hour light environment year-round).

The special circadian problem presented by daycare

One other challenge with daycare besides the static seasonal schedule is circadian cortisol also responds to stress.

Daycare, even high quality ones, are stressful to toddlers and can lead to a pattern of rising (rather than falling) cortisol across the day¹.

By comparison, toddlers at home or with a loving family member show a normal circadian cortisol response.

Second strategy for toddler sleep: strength

I think most parents think they are doing good with sleep if they get 8 hours each night, and their toddler gets 10.

But a fully consolidated pattern like that isn’t necessarily ideal, it’s just what happens to your circadian rhythm when you take in 10-16 hours of light per day.

If you follow the sun instead, your family may shift into a more polyphasic rhythm.

This seasonal sleep variation effect will be more extreme the more polar your climate.

This means shorter sleep periods, more often, for toddlers and grown-ups alike.

This variation in natural light / dark cycles powers the strength, or amplitude, of the circadian rhythm—even if by clock time this looks less “stable” than what I described in the first section where artificial light is used to keep the same schedule year-round.

So for families who aren’t bound to the urban or schedule constraints, there is more flexibility to stray beyond what we currently think of as normal without harming the circadian rhythm.

It’s relevant to understand about circadian health, especially given that future, cities will probably look more like this:

Before and after installing sea-turtle circadian lighting

In a completely circadian light environment, it’s likely for sleep to un-consolidate at certain times of the year (particularly, winter and summer in climates that sometimes see more than 14 hours of darkness or less than 8 hours of darkness at night).

Practically, what this means is your family may enjoy wakeful nights under the full moon, knowing you can catch up on sleep in the dark phase of the moon.

You may also enjoy middle of the winter night wakings to cuddle, check out the stars, and stoke the fire if you have one.

And afternoon siestas to beat the heat.

As I mentioned, the mark of circadian maturity is napping only about as often as a grown up naps.

If you are liberated from the cortisol-stimulating effects of artificial light at night, napping is going to be more often than you probably think of as normal.

This is a big cultural shift! And one of many circadian and quantum health are bringing to the modern world.

How can you find me-time OUTSIDE of when your toddler is sleeping in or napping?

A part of this whole question of blackout curtains for toddlers also comes down to the fact that most busy families are used to nap-time as some form of me-time.

The adage to sleep when your baby sleeps is getting put back on the shelf in this stage.

Thus, a child’s circadian maturation can even feel painful as those naps slip away!

If this is you, don’t despair!

Your family can find a balance that allows you your own time, even without blackout curtains to trick your toddler into sleeping in and taking longer daytime naps.

What I have found:

• If you start going outside first thing with your toddler when you wake up, they may start sleeping better at night

• Toddlers have greater overall sleep needs, so even if you try to sleep as long as they do, you probably can’t

• If you start succumbing to the naps again yourself, you may find more nighttime energy for yourself and your spouse (especially around full moon time)

• The more kids you have, the more you will find moments to yourself as they grow up and entertain each other (the first child can be the most demanding on parents in many ways, especially through the toddler years without a playmate)

• If utilizing daycare, think about how long you will do this and if you can adjust your schedule and budget to allow you to spend more time at the daycare, reduce their hours, and possibly shift to relying more on an individual loving caregiver such as a grandparent, all of which may help reduce the cortisol response

• If still struggling with your child’s sleep at night, check out my post about childhood sleep hygiene and listen to my interview with Kimberly of The Responsive Family Sleep Podcast

Recap

I hope this was a helpful clarification of the appropriate use of blackout curtains for supporting a toddler’s sleep and circadian health.

1. Use blackout curtains for your toddler if:

   1. you need to block artificial light from outside

   2. your schedule doesn’t allow flexibility for sleep-wake patterns to shift with the moon and the seasons

2. Open the curtains (and window if possible) first thing upon waking

3. Take your toddler outside as soon as they wake up to get real light on them

4. Make sure your toddler gets plenty of social cues, noise, warmth, food, and time outside each day so their circadian clocks understand the difference between daytime and a cool, dark night for sleeping

Here are some lights that can help give better artificial light cues for day and night while indoors.

Questions? Drop them in the comments:

1. Nystad, K., Drugli, M. B., Lydersen, S., Lekhal, R., & Buøen, E. S. (2022). Change in toddlers' cortisol activity during a year in childcare. Associations with childcare quality, child temperament, well-being and maternal education. Stress (Amsterdam, Netherlands), 25(1), 156–165. https://doi.org/10.1080/10253890.2022.2048371