Black-out Blinds

alxmorgan

Hello all,

Our first due soon and I was reading that black-out blinds are great for helping them sleep when its bright out and stopping them waking when the sun comes up. Got a gro anywhere blind but didn't think it suited for a permanent blind.
Do most/all blind companies also do balck-out blinds ?
I'm in the Tipp/Limerick area and we have blinds already but not balck-out and no curtains.
So would curtains with heavy lining also help ?

thanks

Squiggler

Heavy curtains, combined with blinds, would definitely help.

You can also buy black out curtains, or curtains with a black out lining, which don't have to be expensive. Argos have them (in a limited range of sizes) and so do Hickeys.

alxmorgan

do the black-out curtains do enough though I wonder.
I mean the book says pitch black as any light can wake the baby

Tabnabs

alxmorgan wrote: »

do the black-out curtains do enough though I wonder.
I mean the book says pitch black as any light can wake the baby

Sweet jebus, whatever book you have telling you that, throw it out!!

Honestly, your child will not need blackout blinds to help them sleep. They will fall asleep in your arms as you sit on the couch, in the pram when you're out and about, in the car seat, even when you're vacuum cleaning around them they'll snore their little heads off. A good decent set of heavy curtains is more than enough. Just be sensible and don't mind what "the book" says.

(also remember that winter is on the way and nature will provide a good set of black out blinds then )

Das Kitty

alxmorgan wrote: »

do the black-out curtains do enough though I wonder.
I mean the book says pitch black as any light can wake the baby

I actually think the curtains block out more than the blinds.

I wouldn't worry about pitch blackness. My lad (and plenty of other babies I know) slept grand regardless of the light levels. I have one friend who made it black dark in her daughter's room and now she can't sleep unless it is (she's two). They had to come home early from a weekend away as it wasn't dark enough.

I'd say go with the flow and if there is a problem after a few months think about it then.

I made some black out curtains for my little lad recently but it's not pitch black. He sleeps equally well in his Granny's house where there are no curtains at all.

alxmorgan

fair point.
Nervous first time-to-be parent here so possibly over-egging it

Das Kitty

alxmorgan wrote: »

fair point.
Nervous first time-to-be parent here so possibly over-egging it

We all do it!

Just remember that they only sleep in short bursts for the first couple of months but will start sleeping longer and longer after that (unless you're very unlucky).

alxmorgan

cheers guys - looks like curtains with some black out lining is the way to go

harr

alxmorgan wrote: »

cheers guys - looks like curtains with some black out lining is the way to go

curtains would be best,our little man is a light sleeper so durning the summer he would have been awake at 4.30 or as soon as it starts to get bright we had a travel blind that up stick up with sticky cups a bit of a pain very night so we got a black out blind cost €80 did not keep enough light out (a lot of light geting in from sides).then got a cheap pair of black out curtains i think €30 or so and they work 10 times better.

alxmorgan

well thats decided - curtains it is

While I have ye another question I have.
We have no dryer as yet. Would you recommend one or could you live without it ?
The only reason its an issue is space. Small house and can't move (damn recession).
Could put in shed (condenser type) but need to run power then which is a pain.
Also looking to see if I can get a mini one of some sort to fit in a press or something

Any thoughts ?

thanks

harr

alxmorgan wrote: »

well thats decided - curtains it is

While I have ye another question I have.
We have no dryer as yet. Would you recommend one or could you live without it ?
The only reason its an issue is space. Small house and can't move (damn recession).
Could put in shed (condenser type) but need to run power then which is a pain.
Also looking to see if I can get a mini one of some sort to fit in a press or something

Any thoughts ?

thanks

i would recommend getting one even a counter top one they are so handy during the winter for the likes of bibs,towles,sheets and the like it.

Dades

Small house + no dryer = nightmare!

We've a small gaff and the dryer bit of our washer-dryer stopped working a week or two ago (a solonoid or something - easy fix for Mr Zanussi...)

I've been too busy to get it fixed and now that the weathers gone a bit mad, there's five of us in the house - me, the wife, two kids, and Trigger the enormous clothes horse. Dear Jebus, I hate that thing more than anything.

Most everything a baby wears (and they go thru a LOT) can be dried in a dryer. Do it, I say.

alxmorgan

harr wrote: »

i would recommend getting one even a counter top one they are so handy during the winter for the likes of bibs,towles,sheets and the like it.

A counter top one ? How big would such a thing be ?

gowayouttadat

I honestly wouldn't worry about black out blinds when they are that small. Maybe as they get a bit bigger and start to realise that things are actually going on around them.
For the first two weeks DS had jaundice so we had to put his moses basket next to the window, facing the light outside. He would have slept through a tornado for the first few weeks. Didn't make a tack of difference to him.

I have a condensor trying but it makes the clothes stink! Horrible, horrible smell. So just use the close horse. Throw some of DS stuff on the rads. Never been a major problem.

crazy cat lady

We have black out blinds from argos. When we were decorating the nursery we had to get blinds anyway and these were fairly cheap and plain and actually do a good job! The room is by no means pitch black , but its certainly very dark!

I'm not sure we would've bothered with them except we knew that the curtains we were getting were very light. The wooden venetian blinds we have everywhere else do a good job too but are that bit more expensive.

When we were looking to buy our tumble drier we were looking at getting a small one and they had one in powercity which would've fitted in a press. We ended up just cutting a press out and buying a normal sized condenser drier. If you're going to get one to put in a press anyway, would you consider losing the press alltogether and doing this? The full sized drier was actually cheaper than the small one! And we woul've had to have the hose coming out to get rid of the sweaty air!

alxmorgan

crazy cat lady wrote: »

When we were looking to buy our tumble drier we were looking at getting a small one and they had one in powercity which would've fitted in a press. We ended up just cutting a press out and buying a normal sized condenser drier. If you're going to get one to put in a press anyway, would you consider losing the press alltogether and doing this? The full sized drier was actually cheaper than the small one! And we woul've had to have the hose coming out to get rid of the sweaty air!

When I say press I actually mean the utility press where our gas thingy is so I can't get rid of it.
Very small kitchen so no where else for it to go.

So how small was small ?

crazy cat lady

Bigger than a microwave but smaller than a dishwasher?? Can't remember exactly but it would've fitted under the sink.

Have a look online and see if you can get some dimensions

January

alxmorgan wrote: »

When I say press I actually mean the utility press where our gas thingy is so I can't get rid of it.
Very small kitchen so no where else for it to go.

So how small was small ?

How about this OP?

limelemon

Had the same worries about drying clothes before babs arrived (in an apartment with no balcony) so we borrowed my parents' dryer (it's the kind with the hose) - we still haven't really used it though! We found it took a very long time to dry clothes and had to have a window open all the time it was running, it was a real pain.

We just use the clothes horses now and it's fine, as long as the clothes are well spun in the washing machine (i.e. not sopping wet) they dry quickly enough. I'd recommend getting lots and lots of basic baby stuff though so you're not hanging around waiting for stuff to dry - i.e. muslin cloths (loads! cheap in tesco), bibs (loads and loads and loads - we've a dribbler / spitter), sheets, vests, babygros, all the basic stuff.

Das Kitty

You can get rails in the Argos catalogue that hang off radiators so you can hang things. Used them when I was living in a one bed apt. Found them fab.

Dades

adrieanne__x wrote: »

How about this OP?

Just read the reviews on Amazon...

Not quite as fantastic as the infomercial would have you think!
(Despite the two very dubious positive reviews)

alxmorgan

Good looking out Dades. Looks like the buying public are not too enamoured with it

Has anyone ever run power to a shed ?
I was wondering if it could be done without digging up the garden

rossit

depends how far the shed is away to long a run will drain the power, you will need to cover the cablein some way to stop it being nibbled or getting worn . hope this helps

rossit

plus dont waste your time with black out blinds waste of time its fine when your at home but then if you go visit anyone they might not have blinds then its a tough job to get the kids asleep. but hey just my opionion.plus the argos one break easy

ghosttown

Ha, we have black out blinds for the 1st, same as you, over cautious, bought everything in the book, 'just in case'....2nd one here now, we've learned that you really just need common sense and they cater to you. the seven month old will fall asleep anywhere, high chair, car seat, best in your arms of course, and then go to his cot regardless of light.

As for the 2 and a half year old, he's cottoned on the black out blind thing. When he tired, he says 'make it dark daddy', but won't accept the blinds. Now he has to go to the porch in my arms and shout at a star before he believes its dark - thankfully with winter coming he's going to bed earlier and earlier !