By: Emmy Goodman
One of Baby Dream Machine's key sleep-inducing features is a Red Light Therapy nightlight. While there are endless benefits to having a regular night light in your child's room, a Red Light Therapy nightlight is functional and effective at helping your child sleep throughout the night.
So, what is so great about Red Light Therapy and why should I be using it to help my child sleep?
1. Assists in melatonin production:
Red light is the safest, 100% natural way to get your body to produce melatonin - the hormone needed for us to fall asleep and stay asleep. Do you know how adults sometimes take melatonin supplements to combat sleeplessness? Well - red light is more effective in helping your body naturally produce melatonin. Turning on the red light of Baby Dream Machine when it is time for your child to sleep, will help them produce the melatonin they need for a quality night’s sleep while still allowing them to feel the comfort of a night light.
2. Combats fear of the dark:
Children may start to feel afraid of the dark as early as 18 months, which is why so many parents have incorporated nightlights into their children’s bedrooms. The problem is that some night lights actually keep your child awake and interfere with natural melatonin production. Using a red light night light not only helps your child stay asleep, but it also eliminates the chance for your child to wake up and become fearful of the dark. If you find your child waking up, especially from night terrors or with a fear of the dark, red light therapy may be beneficial to your child.
3. It regulates circadian rhythm:
Our circadian rhythm is what controls our bodies and the way we naturally sleep and wake up. This rhythm guides the way we naturally feel tired, and it can sometimes be affected by seasonal time changes and jet lag. Our circadian rhythm exists from birth but doesn't fully develop until we are 12 months old. Studies have shown that Red Light Therapy can assist our bodies in establishing a strong circadian rhythm, especially when it is out of sync -- because of the way it helps us produce melatonin.
4. Combats the adverse effects of blue light:
We all know that blue light is bad for us. Some people even turn to blue light blocking glasses to keep the effects of blue light to a minimum. Blue, white or green light, no matter at what brightness, can detriment our sleep cycle because they are stimulants that signal the body to be awake. Countless studies have shown that these color lights boost attention and reaction times, which interrupt the production of melatonin by tricking the brain into believing it is still daylight. Our children are exposed to plenty of blue light throughout the day and evening, so having something to combat this blue light exposure is key to helping them sleep. Red light is at a higher wavelength, and since it helps our bodies produce melatonin, it can reverse the negative effects of blue light.
5. Mimics the sunset:
The Red Light Therapy in Baby Dream Machine was built to mimic the red light frequency of the sunset. The reason for this is because the sunset is what signals our bodies that it's time to sleep as it eliminates the light from the world around us, and our bodies begin to produce melatonin. Not all red light therapy is created equally and different shades can have different effects. We have engineered our Red Light hue to be the exact color needed to maximize melatonin production to ensure a good night’s sleep.
Happy sleeping!
The Baby Dream Sleep Team
