If you’re decorating your child’s bedroom, lighting is an essential part of the decor. Whether it’s making sure they have enough light to illuminate their room, task light to do their homework or fun lights to make their bedroom cosy, we have everything you need to know when lighting your child’s bedroom, including lighting recommendations and top tips.
Children of different ages require different lighting types and have different style tastes, so here is our guide to children’s bedroom lighting by age.
Table of contents
- Understanding the basics
- Newborns to infants (0-2 years)
- Toddlers to preschoolers (2-5 years)
- School-age children (6-12 years)
- Teenagers (13+ years)
- General tips for all ages
Understanding the Basics
Ambient, accent and task lighting
When planning lighting for a kid’s bedroom, you must begin with the practical and essential lights, for example, the big room lights for ambient lighting so they can see adequately. These would be fixtures like ceiling lights or wall lights.
Lighting also helps your child with their sleep cycle. Always include accent lighting like lamps and night lights to help your child’s body relax before bed. Ensuring they get the right kind of sleep while they’re young improves their overall development.
Your child will also spend much time in their room doing other activities while not sleeping. For example, they may read, do arts and crafts, or later, do their homework and study. Therefore, they need adequate task lighting to complete these activities with sufficient light to achieve the tasks.
Style
It’s crucial for a child’s development and mental health to feel like their space is their own. Listen to them if they want a particular lighting fixture. Many children’s lights have novelty features like bright colours and caricatures, making their room feel comfortable and welcoming. Ensure the lights are age-appropriate so your child feels comfortable in their room.
Safety
Always consider safety before you purchase a kid’s bedroom light. Ensure there are no sharp edges and that they aren’t made of material that could break and cause injury, like glass.
Also, avoid lights with inadequate safety features that might get too hot to touch. Choosing lights with LED bulbs will help keep your children safe from burns, as LED bulbs aren’t hot to touch.
Newborns to infants (0-2 years)
When preparing for a newborn and planning the lighting for the nursery, you want to choose soft ambient lighting that will create a calming and gentle atmosphere.
For example, you may choose a shaded ceiling light with no exposed light bulb or soft lamps with warm colour temperature bulbs. Alternatively, you could select lights with dimmable switches to achieve varying light levels. However, it’s essential to balance enough light for caregiving tasks and maintaining a sleep-friendly environment for the baby.
Opt for this soft, calming ambient light to promote relaxation for yourself and your baby, especially during nighttime activities. Dimly lit and warm colour temperatures will also preserve the sleep environment, minimise disruption to the baby’s sleep and support circadian rhythms.
Harsh, bright light can be jarring and make it more difficult for the baby to go back to sleep after feeding times. Keeping the room dark or dimly lit will help them associate darkness with sleep time. Furthermore, exposure to blue or bright light can suppress the production of melatonin, the sleep hormone. So gentle lighting can minimise this effect and allow the baby’s body to continue to produce melatonin.
Soft lighting also reduces stress for the baby and caregiver and facilitates bonding by providing an intimate setting for nurturing. For practicality, soft lighting can also allow you to navigate the room without disturbing the baby and avoiding accidents during the night.
Toddlers to preschoolers (2-5 years)
When your children get to preschool age, you may want to add an element of interactive lighting to stimulate their minds and provide enjoyment in their bedrooms, as well as practical and restful lighting.
Maintain a warm colour temperature lighting to create a calming environment before bed. Achieve this with warm LED bulbs and shaded lights and lamps. Warm colour temperatures will signal to your child’s body that it’s time for sleep so they can drift off to sleep more easily.
You also might consider purchasing lights with dimmer switches to control the light intensity and create the ambience your children require for sleeping and waking up.
As your child grows, you may want to update their lighting to something more age-appropriate. For example, lighting they can engage with. Fun characters and novelty lighting will delight your child and make them feel safe and comforted in their room.
Many children at this age may develop a fear of the dark. Therefore, a night light for kids is the perfect way to comfort them at night, reduce their fear of the dark and allow them to fall asleep peacefully.
School-age children (6-12 years)
When your children reach school age, they may want more say in decorating their own room. Allowing them to choose their light fittings and lamps fosters a sense of ownership and personal style. They may want to choose coloured lighting, put up a string of fairy lights or have a novelty kid’s bedside lamp.
They might also enjoy doing arts and crafts at their bedroom desk or get to the stage of doing light homework. Therefore, they will need adequate task lighting like desk lamps. If they are interested in reading books, add a spotlight or reading lamp beside their bed for nighttime reading.
Teenagers (13+ years)
In their teenage years, you may want to consider versatile and adjustable lighting to cater to your teenager’s needs and as their style evolves.
They will still require ceiling or wall lights for ambient lighting and task lights to complete their studies. But their other accent lighting should be unique to their style.
General tips for all ages
- Top Tip 1: As well as artificial lighting, you must consider letting enough natural light into your children’s bedrooms. Natural light in the morning will allow your child to develop a healthy circadian rhythm.
- Top Tip 2: Ensure your child’s bedroom light switches are easily accessible for children of all ages. If your child is young and developing their motor skills, allowing them to turn lights on and off is a fantastic way for them to interact with their environment in safely.
- Top Tip 3: We always recommend installing lights with LED bulbs. Not only are they more energy efficient, but they’re safer for children as they do not get hot.
Children’s Lighting at Castlegate Lights
Age is one of the most crucial facts to consider when choosing lights for your children’s bedrooms. Every age is different and requires lights for different needs, from comforting lighting to help them fall asleep to creating a sense of ownership.
Find the perfect lighting for your child’s bedroom, whatever their age, at Castelgate Lights in our children’s lighting collection.
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