A darkened baby room is recommend by the famous Gina Ford.

Blackout your baby room: blackout blind, tent or canopy ?

In an earlier article I wrote, I mentioned I have become a father. One of the things we struggled with is to have a well darkened baby room. In our experience our baby boy sleeps way better when it is dark in the room!

There are various ways to try and make the baby room as dark as possible. We found that the blackout blinds with suction cups is the best all-round option.

Options

Next to blackout blinds we also looked at the blackout tent and the blackout canopy. We found that the blackout blinds are a better choice for several reasons.

1. A blackout blind has a double purpose. Next to blocking the light coming through the window, a blackout blind also keeps the warmth out.
2. A blackout tent, but especially a blackout canopy tends to keep warmth trapped inside. Now, both setups have one or more air vents or ventilation panels that you can open most of the time, and the material is made of a breathable fabric. However the more vents you have, and/or the more ventilation panels you open, the more light that comes in. Of course you can always open a window or you can use a fan to ventilate the room but with opening a window you risk bugs entering the room. Using a ventilator will cost you more energy, especially when it needs to be on 24/7, and a fan outside the tent or canopy is much less effective than inside the tent. Which brings us to the 3rd point.
3. When using a blackout tent or canopy be sure there is an opening through which you can fit a small fan.
4. When using a blackout tent or canopy be sure there is a pocket or pouch of some kind to hold the baby monitor.
5. A blackout tent or canopy can only be used when the baby is 4 months or older.
6. If you have a blackout tent or canopy that is not much higher then the height of the cot itself, a baby could feel trapped. Also when the baby gets older there is not enough space to stand upright.
7. It’s (much) more expensive then blackout blinds.

Setup time

For all options the time to set it up is more or less the same.

Portability and compatibility

The portability of the blackout blind (with suction cups) as well as the blackout tent and canopy is the same. It’s easy to pack and travel with.

Looking at the compatibility however, the blackout tent and canopy could have an advantage. Whereas the tent and canopy go over the cot, the blackout blind is attached to a window. Of course there are different sizes of blinds you can choose from, and for the blind with suction cups and Velcro patches you have the option to decrease the width. But if you go and visit another place it could be that the blind you chose for your own baby room is too small for the other room. Now you can always buy a second pair of blinds which will cover you for more or less all bedroom size windows. And still you will either save money or break-even compared to blackout tents and canopies.

Which blackout blind

For the blackout blinds we basically looked at 2 options.

1. One where you cut a blind to the right size and put Velcro patches on both the window frame and the blind.

Image 2: Blackout blinds with Velcro patches for both the blind and the window

2. And one where the blind has pre-attached suction cups and Velcro patches. In this setup the Velcro patches are only attached to be able to decrease the width of the blind.

Image 2: Blackout blinds with suction cups and Velcro patches

As you probably already guessed from the article up till now, we chose for the blackout blind with suction cups.

1. It’s ready to use coming out of the package. Whereas for option 1 you still need to measure and cut it to the right size and attach Velcro patches to both the blind and the window frame.
2. You can’t decrease the width once you have cut it to a certain size.
3. If you have to use it in another room with a different window size, you will have to measure and cut a whole new one.

Where to buy ?

For our Dutch readers:

This is the one we preferred.

Amazon Basics Verduisteringsgordijnen Met Zuignappen, Zwart

For other blackout blinds look here.

For our International readers:

Amazon Basics Portable Baby-Kids Travel Window Blackout Curtain Shade with Suction Cups - 50" x…

For other blackout blinds look here.

The darker, the brighter

One think to remember, the darker the room, the brighter any ray of light will be. So make sure there are as less nooks and crannies as possible through which light can come in. One example could be the light coming from under the baby room door.

Let me know!

If you come across a blackout blind with the suction cups setup, which has a window side facing white side, then let me know! This will reflect the light and will keep out the warmth even better.

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