Blackout Curtains vs. The Bird Nest
I have always been a fan of the song Rockin' Robin.
"He rocks in the treetops all day long, hoppin' and a-boppin' and singing his song. All the little birds on Jaybird Street love to hear the robin go tweet-tweet-tweet..."
... well not this mama bird. Not when the robin is hoppin' and a-boppin' outside of my son's window at 5:00am and waking him up. Let me tell you what happens when my son wakes up at 5:00am - he is a terror for the rest of the day. This kid needs his sleep.
I frequently recommend the use of blackout shades and/or curtains for my clients because they help to block sunlight from entering into the bedroom. Babies, children, and adults(!) sleep best in dark spaces without sunlight streaming in. But what is also amazing about blackout curtains is that they are really thick and help block external noises as well keep the bedroom more temperate in the hot summer months or cold winter months since their many layers act as a barrier of sorts.
Back to the birds…
My kids have both blinds and blackout curtains on their windows. Since we were in the darker winter months I had become lazy about closing the actual curtains in my kiddies' rooms, and was simply closing the blinds on their windows. This was fine since the sun didn’t rise until closer to their wake time and singing birds were not an issue. However now that the sun is going to start rising earlier (which naturally encourages humans to rise earlier) and there are noisy BIRDS nesting in the trees outside of our house, it is important for me to close the actual blackout curtains to help block the sun and rockin’ robin tunes from entering the room.
Here’s how I fixed the problem –
I began closing the blackout shades again, and I also moved the location of my son’s white noise machine slightly to offset the “sounds of spring” entering into the room at 5:00am. I moved the noise machine closer to the window vs. the door (where I normally have it). These two shifts worked like magic and we no longer have the abrupt 5:00am waking.
I added some pictures of blackout curtains to my Recommended Products page so that you can see what type of curtains I am referring to. The links are connected products on Amazon. However I have also purchased very good quality blackout curtains from both Pottery Barn Kids and Target.
Have more questions about room set-ups or early waking? Let's set up a call to talk through it!
My name is Amy Bonsiero. I am a Pediatric Sleep Expert and the founder of Baby Sleep Solved. I help families learn how to soothe their infants, create loving and supportive environments for their children, create effective and realistic family schedules, and successfully get their entire families sleeping more soundly. Let me know what I can do to help you!
