I am looking for ideas on what I can use as a very,very soft light in a kids room, for use throughout the night. The little ones are 2 and 1. The room gets very dark in the night (no ambient light, no source of light from aircon/or from neighbours). The light needs to be least intrusive (can't fix them on the sliding wardrobe/ceiling fan etc). Although there is access to power points, the lights can be battery operated. The room is about 14'/12'
cheers,
Why Red?
PS IKEA had a cheap LED lamp(using E14 globe sockets)
whose globes make ~No Heat (less fire risk than hot-
incandescent's, if tipped over, I think).
(Still uses 240 V AC, so not child-safe (don't let a
little one play with it)
3.5 watts usage.
Low/No heat => you can cover it with a translucent
material to dim &/or Color its globe's light, I'd
guess, to any level / shade you &/or bubs likes.
There is some science behind why red is good. It is to do with the way your eye reacts to different coloured light when coming from dark. Red cones work better transitioning from light to dark if i remember correctly.
I know there's an app (for iOS) that changes screen colors, eg, after dark, etc.
perhaps based on that general idea.
Hence red lights on submarines apparently.
@John Kimble:
red light on subs also emit a smaller wave length and aren't visible from the same distance as white light. you can hide a ship better at night =D
[@dasher86](/comment/4634993/ ?? One of the reasons that red traffic lights and cars tail lights are red is that they are easiest to see from distance. Green is the least visible from distance, particularly during the day.
Not sure if these are any good?
http://m.ikea.com/au/en/catalog/products/art/60150992/
Seem quite expensive though.
I was about to suggest this one.
We have it and my son loves it. It changes its colour and you get to pick your favourite colour.
I chose this one instead of the other style because of the red colour as well.
It's bright enough for you to look around, once your eyes have adjusted to darkness. But it's dark enough to allow good sleep.
I got mine running from the plug. I use the battery from time to time.
Good thing is you can replace the battery once the lifetime of it is gone.
Get one of these - http://www.gearbest.com/other-accessories/pp_315643.html
Dab some red stain glass paint on it
stick it in a Phone charger.
Interesting. I will research a bit on this. Thanks for replying
Whatever you get I suggest getting a 'red light'.
Only if the child's name is Roxanne !!
But, but Roxanne "don't have to put on the red light"!?
We use this one and it does the job very nicely. Adjustable music volume and light intensity, and a range of alternative sounds (e.g. rain).
http://www.toysrus.com.au/skip-hop-owl-nightlight-soother_66…
Thank you. Just a bit exy for me.
Use a wall plug light which uses LEDs or electroluminescent lights. They are not too bright. Available from Bunnings etc.
https://www.bunnings.com.au/search/products?q=night%20light
Or use a pillow pet which projects on the ceiling. My kids loved those.
I too recommend a plugin LED. I have measured the electricity usage and it uses between 1-2W - significantly less than a lamp.
Very good suggestion. Thank you.
No mate. My power points aren't as new. So there is no USB port in the room.
You can plug it into a power bank (you mentioned battery-powered lights), or any old phone charger you might have lying around.
One benefit to using a power bank is that you can move it around the room, e.g. when checking on the child or feeding or whatever. But you'd have to charge it every now and then!
My son has a projection clock in his room. It projects the time onto his room ceiling, so that he can tell what time it is and not wake up too early! I think I got it from Aldi during one of their special buys.
I have a feeling the 2 year old will instead find the clock to be a distraction. Nonetheless, a very good suggestion. Thank you.
How about a clock radio or usb charger or something where the light output is just a by-product. I imagine even the dimmest night lights will offer comparatively bright light.
This is another good idea that we've accidentally discovered while travelling.
Our USB charger light is bright enough for night light. We hid it at the back of hotel tv as it was too bright
Thanks for the reply.
I put a cover over the LED standby light on the TV in our room as it was too bright. The fridge-on light in the caravan needs some cover on it too. The light on the microwave in the kitchen provides enough to see with if your eyes are accustomed to the dark.
Some of the night lights I have seen are too bright, so maybe think outside the square a little and get a clock
Thanks for the reply.
We used battery powered LED lights with rechargeable batteries. Once the kids were old enough to get out of bed things plugged into the wall socket were a temptation for little fingers and I'm a bit paranoid about them with electricity. The ones we got were white plastic and dinosaur, giraffe and teddy bear shaped and came from Bunnings (around $15 each).
Very good suggestion. Thanks for the reply.
Buy an LED light and set it to 5% brightness.
Good option. Thanks for the reply.
We've got a Gro Clock Night Light. Its bright enough, plus the child knows they aren't supposed to get up until it changes to the Sun in the morning. Doesn't actually stop them from getting up though! Kids…
Thanks for the reply. I am getting very interested in this light. My only worry is, if the light from this clock will be too soft. As in it doesn't let the parent's eyes adjust when they have to come in to the room, middle of the night, to console/feed an infant/toddler. The videos don't really show the brightness of the clock. What do you think of how bright the light is ? Or is it variable, as in you can set it from most brightest to least brightest ?
The brightness is adjustable, seems bright enough to us for walking around in the room at night without tripping over the countless toys on the floor.
I leave the toilet light on, and then adjust doors for each room for how bright they want it.
Sadly enough, the kids room doesn't have an en-suite.
Get these installed to replace your light switch in the room. They are about $50-60.
http://www.diginet.net.au/portfolio/diginet-ledsmart-xpert-d…
You can have dim light 2 ways.
1. The ring on the switch/dimmer can be set to always stay illuminated even when the room light is off. So it provides a small amount of light from the switch itself, enough to find your way around.
2. Dim the lights down to the lowest level. These things even have a feature where you double click it and it dims from the current level down to the lowest level over 30mins.
Thanks for the reply. The room has 4 CFLs connected to the light switch, and this seems like a fairly exy solution, as I will also have to call out a sparky.
Grab yourself a Gro Clock. They serve two functions: a variable strength blue glow night light (or no glow) and as an alarm clock. The alarm is visual and not audible: at the predefined time the moon and stars disappear and the sun comes up. We have successfully used this with both of our children to stop them from leaving their bedrooms too early in the morning.
Furthermore, they are currently reduced on Catch Of The Day (https://m.catchoftheday.com.au/event/gro-clock-40805/product…).
Thanks for the COTD link. My only worry is, if the light from this clock will be too soft. As in it doesn't let the parent's eyes adjust when they have to come in to the room, middle of the night, to console/feed an infant/toddler. The videos don't really show the brightness of the clock. What do you think of how bright the light is ? Or is it variable, as in you can set it from most brightest to least brightest ?
Confirming it is variable, ranging from soft to bright. Not sure how many settings there are but I doubt you will struggle to find one that works.
Grab yourself a Gro Clock.
I had to re-read that to make sure it said Clock
Ahh! Genius. The parents binge watched criminal minds when bubs was baking. Am sure the kid will be able to relate to the doll :)
Don't get them used to sleeping with the lights on. It will be a very hard habit to break.
If they won't go to sleep in the dark, leave their door open a bit, and when they go to sleep, close it. That way they'll get used to sleeping in the dark and will over time learn to wake when the sunlight filters through the window.
FWIW I completely agree with this statement
We have this one in our daughter's room. Goes on the actual ceiling light. Not sure if this is an option.
Only thing is the night light is the first option, so if you don't want it, you have to switch on/off/on again to get the normal light to turn on. Not a big deal, just slightly annoying.
https://www.babybunting.com.au/gro-light-bayonet-fitting.htm…
Thanks for your replies everyone. Cheers
Whatever you get I suggest getting a 'red light'.