Don’t try this at home: Mum says bin liners helped her baby sleep all night
Let’s just say from the get-go that not all babies sleep through. Every baby is different and their sleep cycles are as unique as their little faces. That said, sometimes all a parent wants is a full night’s sleep …
Content note: PLEASE see our safety warning at the end of this article.
“I was losing my mind”
A mum – who chose to remain anonymous – spoke with Belfast Live about her little early bird. She said her 10-month-old daughter had started waking between 4.30 and 5am each morning, and she couldn’t get her to shake the habit.
“I was losing my mind trying to figure out what was waking her up every morning. I thought it was hunger but she wasn’t ever overly fussed on her bottle when she did wake up … I could tell she was still tired but just couldn’t get back to sleep when she did wake.”
“I tried everything but nothing seemed to work and I had resigned myself to the fact she would forever wake before 5am,” the mum continued.
But a conversation with a friend about how complete darkness prompts the release of the snoozy hormone, melatonin, got her thinking. While her daughter’s room had blackout curtains, they weren’t really doing the job.
“There was still light getting in through the top – above the curtain and when I thought about it, the room was a lot brighter than I’d expected.”
Bin liners save the day?
The exhausted mum was keen to test her theory, but didn’t want to fit new curtains in case her hunch proved wrong. So she got crafty and used something she had on hand. Garbage bags.
“I put bin liners up over the edges of the nursery room window where the light was getting in, I didn’t even care what the neighbours must have thought as I was desperate to get more sleep,” she revealed.
“I couldn’t believe it, the first night she slept until 8am, she had never done that before. I thought it might have been a fluke but she’s sleeping to at least 7.30am every morning now, it’s amazing.”
Sleep your baby safely
Sleep is amazing and perhaps this complete darkness tip might help another family.
BUT if you are thinking of using bin liners on your windows, PLEASE note that they are a suffocation risk for babies and don’t belong in a baby’s room. Perhaps black cardboard from the newsagent could be a safer cheap and easy fix?
Thanks to this mum for sharing her experience. It’s definitely food for thought and we are sure she approached this with her baby’s safety top-of-mind.
That said, be sure to sleep your babies safely, mums and dads (and carers).
Need some more baby sleep advice? Our Parent School sleep experts can help. Click to find out more or book a one-on-one session.
