Setting up A Healthy Sleep Environment

A healthy sleep environment is a crucial part of healthy sleep hygiene. It's one of the things you can prepare before your baby comes home for the first time to give them the best shot at healthy sleep right from the outset.

How to set up a healthy sleep environment is one of the most common questions I get asked. It’s also one of the easiest things to adapt to improve your child’s sleep- so I want to delve into the things that you can do at home that will make a huge difference to your child’s sleep, and why!

1. Darkness

Darkness promotes the production of melatonin- the sleep hormone. When it is dark, our brain knows it’s time to produce more melatonin, which in turn, tells our body it’s time to go to sleep. For this reason we want our child’s sleep environment to be as dark as possible. There are a few ways to achieve darkness in your child’s sleep environment;

• My favourite way is to get yourself some block out blinds! Gro blinds are awesome and you can pick them up from Big W or Baby Bunting,- they simply suction onto your windows to block the light from coming through, or from seeping around the sides. They’re also great because they easily pop off the window so you can take them with you to grandparents house, or on family trips.

• You can get blinds installed behind your curtains. These are a really effective, more permanent block out solution for if you own your home and want to invest in a permanent, long term option

• Foil- back to basics. If you cant get your hands on block out blinds, you can put foil on your windows to block out the light- an affordable, convenient option using a staple kitchen item!!

It’s also a really good idea to get your bub out and enjoying the sunlight during the day. The light will encourage your bubs brain to produce serotonin, which will then be converted into melatonin when it’s dark. We want to achieve at least 8/10 darkness, so that you couldn’t read a book if you were holding it in front of your face.

2. Temperature

Fun Fact- Our body temperature (and your baby’s) is lowest between 4-6am. This is really important to know as it can be a contributing factor to early morning wake ups. Ideally, we want to maintain a consistent temperature of 18-20 degrees Celcius in bubs room for the duration of their naps and night sleep so as to ensure they won’t wake up feeling too hot or too cold!

3. White Noise

There are so many benefits of white noise!

• It helps to imitate the noise your bub heard when they were in utero, making it helpful with the transition to the big wide world.

• It works wonders for blocking out the external noises in the house- for those of you with more than one child, this benefit is huge!! It’s also great for blocking out the noise at the time of the morning when your bubs sleep is lightest. Some people find that if you get up and shower at 6am, your baby wake sup straight away. If that happens to you, white noise is a great option for you!!

• When used regularly (or for every sleep), white noise can become a really positive sleep association for your baby and they’ll soon learn that white noise= time for sleep.

We want the white noise to be set at 65 decibels and play for the duration of your bub’s nap and night sleep. It doesn’t matter what noise it is, it can be a static radio, waves, anything you like- but make sure there are no words it is simply a noise!

4. Distractions

It’s really important that we limit the distractions around bubs room to ensure they are not waking up to play or look around. Distractions could be things like pictures on the walls, mirrors, mobiles hanging above their cot (this poses safety risks as well so we don’t want anything hanging above your baby’s cot). It could also be toys around the room that are distracting your little one, so anything that can be removed to limit these distraction could be something to consider. Be mindful however, that if you achieve 8/10 darkness, it might be too dark to see most of the toys around the room anyway.

There are so many other things to consider when it comes to sleep hygiene- sleep associations, what your child wears to bed, wind down routine, daily routine naps and the list goes on. Setting up a healthy sleep environment right from the beginning is something you can do before bub even comes home and it’s a great way to encourage healthy sleep habits right from the outset.