Posted by Shuhan He 
Did you know that a night light is as beneficial to the kids as it is to the parents? While the main function may be to emit a soft glow that delicately illuminates the surroundings without preventing sleep, the latest models of LED light for babies come with a vast range of features that make them a valuable ally for both the parents and kids in a variety of daily situations.
Read on to learn the importance of having a night light in your daily life and learn how to get the most out of it.
Why is a Night Light Useful
Night lights come with a variety of practical uses for the daily life. These include:
- Comfort kids and young children who are afraid of the dark.
- Aid parents in checking in on their baby by softly illuminating the environment.
- Prevent your toddler from crying when he or she wakes up at night by recognizing a familiar environment.
- Illuminate the changing table for midnight diaper changes.
Advantages for the Babies
Aiming to relieve nyctophobia (fear of the dark), especially in young children, night lights emit a delicate, soothing glow that reveals the overall layout of a room without requiring for a major light to be switched on. This reassures the kids by providing a sense of familiarity and overall safety that helps them fall asleep.
When the infant wakes up at night, he or she won’t feel scared by finding himself immersed in a dark, unknown environment. On the contrary, the kid may be able to entertain himself for a while by taking in the view of the room.
Advantages for the Parents
Night lights provide a dim, non-invasive lighting that enables you to conveniently check in on your kid without risking of waking him or her up by switching on a harsh overhead light.
While it is a given that you’ll suffer from broken sleep when you have a newly born baby, the delicate illumination provided by a night light will prevent you from tripping over stairs, obstacles, or even pets on your way to the nursery.
Once your night duty as a parent is accomplished, relying on a night light to see through the dark will make it easier for you to return to sleep. As opposed to bright lights that cause your brain to become alert and active, a dim night light in your baby’s nursery will provide enough illumination without jarring you awake.
Ultimately, night lights use less electricity then ceiling lights. Unlike the option to leave the lights on outside of the child’s room with the door slightly ajar, using a night light will provide a more uniform and less invasive lighting while allowing you to save on the power bill.
What to Look for in a Night Light
While baby night lights come in different sizes and shapes to best suit your child’s age, the type of environment, etc., some basic features are a must to look for when shopping for a night light.
Safe Materials
With babies that tend to chew themselves to sleep on virtually anything, being this their thumbs, a teddy bear, or their favorite blanket, it is important that the night light they’ll be handling is made of certified safe materials.
Look for the specifications of the device and make sure it’s realized by using safe plastics, such as ABS and PP materials.
While a ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene) construction presents a higher melting point that will securely withstand the heat generated by the light source, PP (Polypropylene) plastics feature an elevated resistance to many chemical solvents as well as moisture. The latter is what baby bottles are made of.
Friendly Illumination
While some older models may still feature incandescent light bulbs or neon panels, most recent night lights come with a LED as their main light source.
In addition to be ecofriendly and allow you to save electricity, this low-cost illumination provides a more stable, uniform light beam that does not hurt the eyes. The result is that your baby will find himself in a warmly illuminated atmosphere that will help him doze off instead of keeping him awake.
Easy Operation
A night light can contribute to your child’s development in different ways. Besides helping him get a good night’s sleep, the operation of the lamp can be a practical way to improve his learning capabilities.
While an infant will simply benefit from the nocturnal illumination you set for him, when growing the child will be able to manage this by himself. A lamp that’s easy to operate, one that features a series of touch controls instead of buttons for instance, can be a fruitful opportunity for your kid to learn how to use it and become more autonomous in this regard.
Extra Functionality
Just like our smartphones, computers, TV screens, etc., the more you can do with a baby night light, the better.
When shopping for this type of device, check out what features it comes with. Some useful ones might be:
- Timer
- Waterproofing
- LED Carrousel
- Brightness Control
- Touch Sensitive Operation
Other ways to use a Night Light
More advanced baby night lights come with some added functionalities that allow them to operate in different types of situations besides helping you kids fall asleep.
A Light to Read
Most parents know how important it is to set the right atmosphere when reading a kid to sleep. A night light, especially one whose brightness can be adjusted, will provide a suffused, soft lighting that’s enough for you to read but won’t keep your baby awake until you run out of night stories.
A Light to Set the Mood
Whether it is to dimly brighten a room when watching TV, or to replace the hazardous traditional candles to make the right atmosphere for a Halloween party, a romantic dinner, etc., a night light, or a combination of multiple units, is a valid option that will get the job done while adding a touch of originality to the occasion.
A Light to Explore
Increase the brightness level of your night light and this will double as a torch to illuminate dark areas during a power outage, if case of emergencies, etc.
Add a waterproof construction and the lamp will be your best source of illumination when camping with the whole family.
While providing the type of warm, soft illumination that will reassure your kids to sleep, a night light represents an extremely handy solution for the parents too. Whether it is to conveniently check in on the sleeping toddlers without waking them up, or to find the way to the nursery while avoiding potential obstacles and preventing a trip hazard, night lights have slowly become a must have in any household to facilitate the parents’ duty and brighten the kids’ development.
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