If you’re pregnant or have a baby, you’ve probably spent approximately 7,000 hours thinking about sleep.

How many naps? How long should the wake window be? Blackout curtains or no blackout curtains? White noise? Swaddle? Sleep sack? Rocking? Not rocking? Will I even get any sleep?

And then there’s the nursery lighting.

You probably bought a cute little lamp and called it a day. Fair enough. But the type of light you use at night can actually matter, especially when you’re getting up multiple times to feed, change a diaper, or figure out why your baby is wide awake at 2:43 a.m. for the 20th night in a row.

A few simple lighting changes can help you create a better nighttime environment for your baby and avoid blasting yourself with bright, stimulating light every time you walk into the nursery.

Why Does Nursery Lighting Matter?

Let’s start with the basics. Your body uses light as a cue that helps regulate your circadian rhythm, or your internal day-night clock.

Bright light tells your brain, Hey! It’s daytime! Time to be awake and alert!

Darkness sends a very different message.

And while babies are obviously not tiny adults with perfectly developed circadian rhythms, establishing a difference between daytime and nighttime helps them learn that nighttime is for sleeping.

Especially for newborns. Babies don’t develop their circadian rhythm until 2-3 months. Nursery lighting early in their lives can help them develop it a little faster.

This doesn’t mean the nursery needs to be completely dark from sunset until sunrise. It means the light you use at night should look and feel different from the light you use during the day.

And this matters for you, too. Because if you’re waking up at 3 a.m. and turning on a bright overhead light, you’re not giving your body a subtle hint that it is still nighttime, which makes it harder to fall back asleep after you get your baby down again.

What Kind of Nursery Light Is Best at Night?

This is where things get interesting. Not all light is created equal, and color temperature matters.

During the day, cooler, brighter light can be helpful. At night, you generally want the opposite: dim, warm light that isn’t screaming “GOOD MORNING!” at your eyeballs.

Red and amber light are great options for nighttime lighting because they contain much less blue light than cooler white bulbs.

You don’t need your nursery to look like a red-light therapy spa. Choose a light that allows you to see what you’re doing without making the room feel like daytime.

What Is Blue Light and Why Does Everyone Keep Talking About It?

Blue light isn’t inherently bad. We need light during the day. Your body is designed to respond to changes in light throughout the day.

The issue is when and how much bright, blue-heavy light you’re exposed to at night.

Artificial lighting and screens expose us to bright light long after the sun has gone down. And when you’re trying to establish a nighttime environment, that’s probably not the signal you want to send to yourself or your baby.

This is one reason I pay attention to the type of lighting I use in my own home, especially in the evening.

What Should You Look for in Nursery Lighting?

Here’s what I’d actually pay attention to when choosing a nursery light.

1. A warm, red, or amber color: If you’re buying a light specifically for nighttime use, skip the bright, cool-white bulb and look for something warmer.
2. Low brightness: You need enough light to change a diaper. That’s it. A dimmer, softer light is generally much more appropriate for nighttime wake-ups.
3. Flicker-free lighting: Some LED lights can flicker rapidly, even when you don’t consciously notice it. If you’re going to spend hours in a room, it’s worth choosing a quality bulb designed to minimize flicker.
4. Something you can turn on without thinking: Your nighttime light should be easy to access. A bedside lamp, plug-in light, or strategically placed night light is more practical than walking across the room to find a switch.
5. A light that actually works for nighttime care: Remember what you’re using it for. We’re trying to create enough light without unnecessary exposure to bright light.

Don’t Forget About Daytime Light

We’re not trying to eliminate light. Your baby needs exposure to normal daytime light, too.

During the day, let the sunshine in. Open the curtains. Keep the house bright and active. Then, as evening rolls around, start dimming things down.

This creates a much more natural contrast between daytime = light and activity, and nighttime = dark and calm.

You’re teaching the body that there is a difference between day and night.

What About Your Phone During Nighttime Feedings?

Look, I’m not going to tell a new mom she can’t scroll Instagram at 2 a.m. We’ve all been there, and sometimes it’s 100% necessary to stay sane.

You’re awake. You’re tired. You deserve a little entertainment.

But your phone is another source of bright light, so if you’re using it during nighttime feedings, turn down the brightness and use your phone’s nighttime settings.

And maybe don’t open an email from your boss at 3 a.m. Some things can wait until morning.

Want to Make Your Nursery Lighting More Toxin-Free?

You don’t have to swap every lightbulb in your house tonight. In fact, please don’t add that to your already enormous new-parent to-do list. People already tell you about a million things you need to buy, change, track, measure, and optimize before your baby arrives. Nursery lighting shouldn’t become another source of stress.

If you’re starting from scratch, choose a dim, warm, or red/amber light for nighttime wake-ups. If you’ve already got a nursery set up, make a couple of easy swaps when it makes sense.

And if you don’t want to spend three hours researching light bulbs, I’ve done the work for you. I pulled together my favorite home lighting options, including bulbs and lighting designed for evening and nighttime use, so you can skip the rabbit hole and get straight to the good stuff.