The use of bedside lamps for children’s rooms is usually used to prevent their fear. But the results of scientific research show that poor eyesight in children is a side effect of using bedside lamps.
Disadvantages of sleep lights on vision
In many families, children (and even some adults) use bedside lamps to ward off nighttime fears and to increase the brightness of the home. Using this artificial light at night can also cause problems.
Researchers have found that children who sleep with their bedside lights on at night are more likely to lose their eyesight than children and babies who sleep in complete darkness. The study, which looked at 479 children ages 2 to 16, found that children who used to sleep in a bright room before age 2 were five times more likely to have poor eyesight than other children.
Kids and bedside lamps
Dr. Richard Stone, an ophthalmologist at the Pennsylvania Institute of Ophthalmology, believes that the risk of myopia is much higher among children who were deprived of sleep in completely dark environments as infants than those who slept in complete darkness. Now, if your child is very afraid of the dark and has used this fear as an excuse to sleep alone in his room,
We have some suggestions for you:
Children under 2 understand less about the concept of fear, so there is no need to turn on the bedside lamp in their room.
• For children over 2 years old, buy timer sleep lights that turn off after 30 to 90 minutes. In this case, the light turns off automatically after the children fall asleep.
Tips on using bedside lamps in children’s rooms
• If you use a regular bedside lamp, go to your child’s room and turn off the bedside lamp after making sure he or she is asleep.
Blue light is better
Researcher Dr. Mariana Filguero, based on her research on various people, has concluded that among the many bedside lamps on the market, those with soft blue light are better than others.
“Although the body’s biological clock is adjusted so that it is better to sleep at night in complete darkness, it is not bad for people over 50 and people with Alzheimer’s who also suffer from sleep disorders,” he says. “Use blue bedside lamps.” Melatonin is a hormone that is released in the body at night due to the darkening of the environment and induces a feeling of drowsiness.
Now, if yellow or white sleeping lights are used during the night, the secretion of this hormone will reach 30 to 50%, and if blue lights are used, this secretion will reach 60 to 65%. Therefore, these yellow and white lights aggravate sleep disorders in people aged 50 to 80 years.
Although the use of blue light during sleep is soothing, according to Dr. Filguero, he also states that the use of bedside lamps, even with blue light, should be only in the first 90 minutes and not during the entire sleep period.
Some people believe that bedside lamps that emit white or yellow light can damage the skin and increase the risk of cancer. “Not only a bedside lamp, but no other lamp has enough UV light to be harmful to the skin,” says Dr. Amir Hoshang Ehsani, a dermatologist and hair specialist.
7 tips about bedside lamps
1 – Do not use ceiling or wall lamps that are installed above the bed and have white, yellow, and red lights. The use of these sleep lights, in the long run, increases the risk of sleep disorders.
2 – Use bubble bedside lamps or desktops that are covered with fabric around it.
3 – If possible, avoid placing bedside lamps in the room. Otherwise, it is better to put it under the bed and use the dimmer light on the market.
4 – Do not use bedside lamps that emit different spectrums of light in the room or are constantly turned off and on; Because this will make you more nervous instead of relaxing while sleeping.
5 – Try to install bedside lamps in the kitchen or living room so that if you need to travel around the house in the middle of the night, dealing with household items will not bother you, or fear of the dark will not be a problem for you.
6 – Do not use candles instead of bedside lamps. Fires caused by falling candles on carpets or bedding are one of the most common causes of house fires.
7 – Do not use bedside lamps whose wire cover is lost because you may get electrocuted when you touch the unplugged power cord while sleeping.
I disagree with the bedside lamp
It is generally recommended that people sleep in a dark place and do not use bedside lamps. Naturally, in the last hours of the day, as the air gets darker, the secretion of the hormone melatonin, also known as the sleep hormone, increases in the body. This hormone helps to sleep comfortably and is effective in improving the quality of sleep.
Exposure to any type of artificial light reduces the secretion of this hormone and adversely affects the quality of sleep. The brightness of the bedside lamp also has a great effect on the quality of sleep and reduces the quality of sleep because it increases the light in the dark and reduces the secretion of the hormone melatonin in the body. For this reason, it is recommended not to use bedside lamps while sleeping.
Sometimes people have to turn on the bedside lights and keep the space of the house lit. For example, some families have to turn on the bedside lamp for a variety of reasons, such as their children walking in their sleep, the baby’s own fear of the dark, or even breastfeeding. It is recommended to use bedside lamps with the least possible light.
Do not place the bedside lamp near the sleeping area and choose the farthest possible distance from the sleeping place to place the bedside lamp. Another recommendation is to use blindfolds while sleeping if you have to keep the room lit and use bedside lamps.
