We noticed with my youngest son (1 1/4) that if we leave a small corner of his blackout blind hanging down it is still dark and with the natural light he wakes up nicer (happy and hanging out in his cot rather than crying).

I also read a little about how the main part of this is the light coming in via the eyes so it is possible to just use a good eye mask instead of a blacked out room. Combine this with some light bulbs that only give out low blue light (amber or red bulbs) or wear a pair of amber lensed goggles for an hour or so before bed.

Blackout curtains mean that we can get better sleep but it also means that we don’t get natural light coming in to help kick start the cortisol release that should wake us up. By all accounts, if we don’t overdo the artificial light on the evenings, melatonin should rise naturally making us sleepy and subsequently, cortisol should rise naturally as melatonin dips overnight.

Making sure we get enough sleep to wake naturally is one option as is getting a lamp or some such that slowly turns on at a given time. But, I tend to think and find from experience that if I go to bed early enough, I wake at dawn anyway. It’s kind of rare I am asleep after 6am at the moment but I will go to bed at 9pm most nights unless I have something on (or it’s the weekend).

I think the eyemask and a good thick set of curtains is a good compromise, it still lets some cracks of light in but means you can at least block out the light. Problem is, even some light like this can upset hormones so ideally, blacking out the room would be better still. Maybe then just make sure you get to bed early enough and turn on a lamp in the morning to help adjust to the day.

The streetlights are a nightmare, they are replacing them where we live with these new, LED ones that are like football stadium lights so it is always light.

Have you read Lights Out? Great read and well worth picking up.