Darkening the Nursery

Ok- my babies are really struggling to nap in their cribs. One of the reasons, I think, is that it is too bright in there. It gets all the morning, early afternoon sun. I have wooden blinds and curtains over the window- but it really doesn't do much. We also have a half circular window about the rectangular one. It too has wooden blinds, but no curtain as it is so high up on the wall- and a more decorative window. I really don't want to have to start over- as the blinds and curtains were expensive. But will if I have to. Any other suggestions to try first?
Thanks!

 

What about putting in a old fashioned shade to pull down over the window? Let us know how it goes.

 

I make no commission off of this but I swear my life on it! It's called shift shade and I got it on ebay for about $20 for a standard window! It makes the room like night all day long. My kids sleep 12 hrs at night and a good 3-4 during the day!! WE LOVE IT!!! It's so worth the money..easy to put up!

 

We just bought and "installed" these:

Redi Shade Original 36-Inch Blackout Temporary Shade, 6-Pack, Black #1617201
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000SDROMG

It is $28 on Amazon. They are basically a fabric paper shade that uses peel and stick tape to install. I don' expect them to last forever but they will handle the next few months. You also get 6 shades for $30.00 so we have back-ups for when the twins start destroying them.

We have 3 windows in their room and these are great because I could cut them to the exact width of the frame. I am also using a set in our guest room now which has one massive window, by overlapping two shades.

As a safety bonus they use plastic clips to secure and not cords.

They are not high quality but I just wanted something to make their room a cave, didn't cost a lot and preferably didn’t have long cords. These fit the bill.

 

I used an old cardboard box, flattened and cut to the shape of the window, and then I just have the plain old redi-shade ($5 at Lowes) over the top, so it doesn't look like I've got a cardboard box in the window.

Oh and I had the plain redi-shades (not room darkening) on my living room windows for 3 years. If you don't open and close them a lot, they last just fine.

 

We got room darkening roller shades from Home Depot. They are ok. Not pitch black in there but better.

 

QUOTE(melissak @ Jul 14 2008, 03:18 PM) [snapback]876189[/snapback]
We got room darkening roller shades from Home Depot. They are ok. Not pitch black in there but better.


Ditto, and I think they work GREAT!!!

 

QUOTE(akangel @ Jul 14 2008, 12:44 PM) [snapback]875983[/snapback]
I used an old cardboard box, flattened and cut to the shape of the window,



We did this too. It doesn't make it pitch black as it doens't totally cover but makes it darker and then they can tell the difference between nap and bedtime.

 

I got room darkening shades at Kmart for 5 dollars! The sun in the nursery was like it was sitting on the window ledge. It darkened it enough for them to sleep well during the day. GL

 

Dh read/heard about using aluminum foil. It helps cool their room down and it blocks out the sunlight. You can't tell from inside the house that their is foil on the window because they have blinds that we keep shut and long drapes. It does an awesome job. I would love to foil our bedroom but I think that's going a little overboard =)

 

We got the room darkening shades from Home Depot and they can tell the diffference between nap time and bed time. There are different shades with a different thickness. Obviously the ones that are thicker block out more light.

 

Tin foil. It's not pretty but it sure does work. We have six huge transom windows in the girls room that are about 1.5 stories high, so no hope of reaching them unless we haul in a huge ladder. I covered them with tin foil about six months ago and naps and night time sleep have been better ever since. You could put tin foil on the half round window under the blinds...

 

QUOTE(2BUSYGs @ Jul 14 2008, 06:03 PM) [snapback]875725[/snapback]
I make no commission off of this but I swear my life on it! It's called shift shade and I got it on ebay for about $20 for a standard window! It makes the room like night all day long. My kids sleep 12 hrs at night and a good 3-4 during the day!! WE LOVE IT!!! It's so worth the money..easy to put up!



Also, just a piece of fabric that is held up to the windows with a few bendable rods...very mobile if you travel, etc...Oddly enough, even with it being pitch black, they still know the difference in naptime and bedtime. It's amazing!

 

We have blackout blinds in the children room, as these blinds completely block the sun from entering the room. I bought mine from this store, as they have really low prices: http://pakdir.net/detail/link-25715.html . Good luck!

 

I went to the fabric store and got a thick piece of fabric that matched their room.

 

I have the Eclipse curtains (between $10-$20 at Walmart depending on what size you need) and it blocks it out so much I need a nightlight on for the naps! They're specifically made for home theatres and nurserys, etc...
I highly recommend it!

 

We have the wood blinds & they just weren't cutting it. So, I just ran out to Menards & got one of those "cut to fit" shades. We installed it to go from the wood trim to the wood trim (vs the blinds which are 'inside') so it goes OVER the blinds. That way, we just roll up the shade to get light in there & roll it down for naptime/bedtime. It filters SOME light on the sides, but if you wanted it pitch black, you could always secure it down. In our spare bedroom, where Conner usually naps during the day, I just folded up a dark red flannel sheet twice & pinned it up. Looks totally trashy, but it works. I'm hoping he won't nap there forever, but if it stays more long term, I'll get the roll up shade for in there too.

 

What about something like this window cling stuff? They sell something similar at Lowe's. I've never used it but a friend used it at her apartment for a small window that was up really high. She was happy with it.

 

QUOTE(Cynthia3200 @ Jul 15 2008, 06:50 AM) [snapback]877101[/snapback]
Dh read/heard about using aluminum foil. It helps cool their room down and it blocks out the sunlight. You can't tell from inside the house that their is foil on the window because they have blinds that we keep shut and long drapes. It does an awesome job. I would love to foil our bedroom but I think that's going a little overboard =)


That's what I use. It works well.

 

QUOTE(elara @ Sep 19 2008, 04:05 PM) [snapback]987622[/snapback]
What about something like this window cling stuff? They sell something similar at Lowe's. I've never used it but a friend used it at her apartment for a small window that was up really high. She was happy with it.



Yup, we used that too.
It is mirrored on the adhesive side, so it reflects sunlight and darkens too!

 

OMG, we are sooooo dealing with this same issue! We can mount anything on the inside of the window because there are these extra pieces of wood (decorative I think), so the blinds etc. won't go to the edge. In order to cover the whole window we would have to mount above the trim of the window. So currently we use the mini blinds that are room darkening (yeah right!) and a sheet over those. And it is NOT working. I like to open the window and blinds when they aren't napping and it is a pain in the butt having to move that darn sheet everytime. I am thinking about a nice roller shade and mounting it above the window. I can't tell you how many times I have had to go in there today because they won't freakin' nap, and I think it might be due to the light issue. Let me know if you find anything that works! GL!