Choosing a cot Nursery lighting

A heart shaped nightlight plugged into a wall socket

Ambient nursery lighting helps create a calming space

The right nursery lighting can sooth your baby and help them to nod off to sleep. 

While an ordinary lamp or ceiling light is perfectly adequate for use in the nursery, many babies enjoy the ambient lighting of a soft nightlight, or a light show that projects rotating images across the ceiling and walls, while others prefer the dark - it's worth experimenting to find out what works best for your baby.

A soft light can also be useful for tending to your little one in the middle of the night, and some nursery lighting can come in handy later on if your child dislikes the dark.

Types of nursery lighting

Cot lights

These are attached to the cot and emit a battery-powered soft light. Many are sound-sensitive and light up when your baby cries, or you can switch them to be on all night. You can also buy cot lights that project a lightshow of projected images around the ceiling to the tune of lullabies, to help your baby get to sleep.

Plug-in nightlights

These are small, round or oval lights that you plug directly into the wall socket. Some have light sensors so they come on automatically at night and go off at daylight.

Light-effect bedside lights

You can buy bedside lights that project rotating images round the room, or ones that automatically fade out over a 15-minute period so you have a brighter light to start with while you're settling your baby down.

‘Instant’ lights

These are battery-powered, cord-free, flat, rounded lights that you can fix on to the wall or place on any convenient surface. You push them down to activate them.

Nursery lighting tips

  • Although not designed specifically for use in a nursery or child's room, dimmer switches are a very effective way of lighting the nursery. If you have one, there should be no need for a nightlight as well, unless you want the automatic on–off element that some of these provide.
  • Some models of baby monitor also come with a nightlight.
  • Choose an innocuous-looking plug-in nightlight rather than one with a cartoon character emblazoned on it to reduce the chances of a curious child playing around with the socket.
  • Of course, some children are happier sleeping in a darkened room. You can buy blackout fabric for lining the curtains or a product like the Magic Blackout blind, which may be necessary if the nursery window is overlooked or close to a street light.

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