Glossary
Blackout curtains
Curtains or shades that block outside light almost completely, used to support naps and early morning sleep.
Blackout curtains use a tightly woven or coated fabric layer to block most outside light from entering a room, which is useful for daytime naps and for the early sunrise hours that can otherwise wake a baby too soon. They range from clip-on panels that go over existing curtains to dedicated blinds and cellular shades built for darkening a room.
Coverage matters more than fabric quality alone, light that leaks around the edges of a window frame can undo most of the benefit, so many parents pair blackout curtains with a frame-mounted blind or add removable blackout film for full coverage. Ease of opening and closing also matters for a room used for both daytime play and naps.
A frequent oversight is buying blackout curtains but leaving several inches of gap at the sides or bottom where the panel does not reach the wall, which lets in enough light to matter. If the product uses a pull cord, treat cord safety as part of the decision, since window covering guidance strongly favors cordless designs in any room a young child spends time in.