The nightlights that were once standard in baby’s rooms have gone through a technological renaissance. Gone are the days of a tiny nightstand lamp with an incandescent lightbulb and an off/switch. When putting together a nursery, today’s parents have so many amazing options. Not only are there styles in different shapes, designs, and colors, but they also come with automatic shut-off options or even the ability to control the level and color of light directly from your phone.
With so many technological advancements, it’s hard to know which one is right for your baby’s room. We’ve done the research and read the reviews to find the nursery lighting solutions that are the best for you and your baby.
Smart bulbs
Bright light at bedtime impacts our sleep quality by interfering with our natural circadian rhythm, also known as our sleep/wake cycle. When trying to get your baby on a regular sleeping pattern, your choice of lightbulb could spell the difference between a blissful night or a restless night—for you and your baby. That’s why the dimmable features of many of today’s smart bulbs make them a practical and cost-efficient option for lighting your child’s room.
You can control the level of light remotely from your cell phone while your baby falls asleep with soft, soothing light, which can be gradually made dimmer and dimmer as they fall deeper into sleep. There are many dimmable smart lightbulbs available, with a variety of functionalities and price tags.
Kasa’s Smart Wi-Fi LED Light Bulb is packed with features and is surprisingly affordable, too. Delivering extensive dimming capabilities, the 800-lumen bulb uses 80 percent less energy than an ordinary bulb and provides an estimated 22.8 years of life! It can be controlled using your phone or tablet, as well as Echo, Google Assistant, Cortana, IFTTT control, or Nest. It’s a winner on so many levels!
Smart light switches
Now that you see the benefits of a dimmable smart bulb as a nursery lighting idea, what about your dimmer switch? Unfortunately, your standard dimmer wall switch isn’t compatible with your new smart bulb. As your baby grows and is able to reach the wall switch, that could present a problem as they could accidentally cut off the power source to your smart nursery lighting.
Smart bulbs have their own built-in dimming mechanisms, so using one in a fixture wired to a standard dimmer switch may cause the bulb to strobe when you are dimming it up and down. Adding a smart dimmer switch will provide dimming wall controls without messing with your smart bulbs.
The Philips Hue Tap uses energy-harvesting technology to power itself through the kinetic energy of your fingertips pressing the button—no wires or batteries needed. You can control individual lights or entire groups of lights with a simple touch! As with all smart switches, always ensure that the technology of your smart switch pairs with the type of smart bulbs you are using.
A sleeping baby is a happy baby—and makes for happy parents, too! By harnessing smart lightbulbs’ amazing technology and switches, you can instill good sleeping habits into your baby while also saving time, money, and energy. No more sneaking into your baby’s room to flip off a light switch and risk waking them in the process. Using smart technology, you can control the level, color, and intensity of light in your baby’s room directly from your hand-held device. Isn’t technology great?