Choosing a Night Light for Your Nursery: What Color Light Helps Baby Sleep?

Science shows that different color lights can help your baby sleep, while others might stimulate the brain and make it harder for your baby to settle down. To promote the best possible sleep for your little one, it's important to choose the right night light for your nursery.

Finding the right color for your nursery night light is essential to creating a calm and restful sleep environment for your little one. Below, we'll discuss the different types of night lights and how each color can impact your baby's sleep quality.

Research indicates that red or warm orange (amber) lights are the most conducive to sleep for both babies and adults. Red and orange lights have been shown to have a minimal impact on your baby's ability to fall and stay asleep.

When selecting a night light for your nursery, opting for a light with a soft red or warm orange hue can create a calming environment, making it easier for your baby to drift off to sleep.

Amber and red lights are beneficial for sleep because they have longer wavelengths compared to other light colors.

Shorter wavelengths, such as blue and white, are known to suppress the production of melatonin, a hormone that regulates sleep-wake cycles. Exposure to shorter wavelength light can trick the brain into thinking it is daytime, making it harder for babies to fall asleep.

Amber and red lights, on the other hand, have been shown to have minimal impact on melatonin levels, thereby supporting the natural sleep rhythm.

These warm colors can promote more restful and uninterrupted sleep by minimizing the disruption of your baby’s circadian system.

Yes, certain light colors can indeed disrupt your baby's sleep. Lights in the blue and white spectrum are particularly disruptive.

These colors emit shorter wavelengths that can significantly suppress the production of the sleep hormone melatonin.

Even brief exposure to these lights in the evening can be enough to delay sleep onset and decrease sleep quality.

White light can be especially harsh on babies' eyes, making it even more difficult for them to fall and stay asleep.

Unlike the softer hues of red and amber, white light contains multiple wavelengths, including a significant amount of blue light. This blue light component has a notably high intensity, which can be particularly straining on a baby's developing eyes.

Additionally, white light's potent glare can create an overstimulating environment, making it harder for your baby to relax and settle down for the night.

While purple light can be aesthetically pleasing and might create a visually soothing environment, it can be too stimulating for your baby's eyes and disrupt their sleep.

Purple light falls in a part of the spectrum that includes shorter wavelengths, which, like blue light, are known to suppress melatonin production. This suppression can interfere with your baby’s ability to fall asleep and maintain a restful sleep cycle.

Exposure to purple light in the evening or at night can make winding down difficult and may cause your baby to experience frequent awakenings throughout the night.

Though it may look nice, using purple light in your nursery is not advisable if the goal is to promote healthy sleep patterns.

Blue light is perhaps the most disruptive light color when it comes to sleep. This is because blue light increases alertness, making it exceptionally challenging for your baby to fall asleep or stay asleep.

Exposure to blue light in the evening suppresses melatonin production more significantly than any other type of light, confusing your baby's internal clock.

The heightened state of alertness can cause restlessness, resulting in your baby taking longer to fall asleep and experiencing more frequent awakenings throughout the night.

Introducing a night light in your baby's nursery can be beneficial from an early age, particularly during nighttime feedings and diaper changes, to create a consistent and calming environment. It can also be a good idea to get infants used to sleeping in environments other than a perfectly dark room.

However, many parents start using night lights when their baby is around 6 months old, as this is typically when sleep training begins, and a soothing light can help minimize disruptions.

The key is to use a night light that emits a warm, soft amber or red night light to avoid overstimulation and support healthy sleep patterns. Always monitor your baby's response to the night light and make adjustments as needed.

Selecting the right night light with a soft amber or red hue can create a calm and soothing environment, promoting better sleep. These colors have minimal impact on melatonin production, which is vital for maintaining healthy sleep-wake cycles.

By opting for simplicity and avoiding overstimulating features, you can ensure a peaceful atmosphere that supports restful and uninterrupted sleep.

Find more helpful tips and advice for new parents on our Sleep Centre blog, with new posts uploaded regularly.