There are rumors on the Internet that the use of night lights will advance the development of babies and children. This matter worries mothers very much. After all, there is a small night light at night to provide some faint light. It is very helpful for mothers to take care of their children. However, if this lamp will adversely affect their children’s health, then mothers’ kindness will do bad things.
But in fact, these worries of mothers may be unnecessary. Analyzing the results of scientific research, it is not difficult to find that as long as parents choose night lights with soft lights and avoid shooting directly into their children’s eyes when using them, they do not have to worry about the early development of their babies. Why? To explain this problem, we must first understand melatonin.
Can night lights affect melatonin secretion?
When it comes to hormones, people may always be worried and scared. But hormones themselves are a very general concept, and when it comes to the relationship between light and sexual maturity, we have to introduce a very important hormone called melatonin.
1. Melatonin how Affects Children’s Development?
This hormone is very mysterious, We do not fully understand its role as a what, But what is certain is that it contributes to our biological rhythms, sleep, Even aging and tumor metastasis have important effects. It has also been found that melatonin can indirectly affect the secretion of some hormones related to growth and development. For example, the secretion of gonadotropins is reduced, and the secretion changes of these hormones are closely related to the initiation of puberty. Simply put, melatonin secretion can ensure that gonadotropins do not accumulate early but develop ahead of schedule.
2. Diurnal changes of melatonin
Melatonin secretion is controlled by light. It peaks in dark environment. When exposed to light, Some cells in the retina are activated, So as to transmit the information to the brain, Inhibit melatonin secretion. Therefore, under normal rhythm, The concentration of melatonin is significantly higher at night than during the day. But for babies, The rhythm of melatonin secretion is not obvious in the first 3 months after birth, and the concentration is similar during the day and night. After that, the change of melatonin secretion will gradually become obvious day and night. At the age of 1 to 3, the change of melatonin secretion in children will be very obvious day and night, and the concentration during the day is much lower than that at night.
3. Effect of artificial light on melatonin in babies
In addition to sunlight, artificial light sources also have an impact on melatonin secretion. Will the light produced by night lights affect the secretion of melatonin in children? Not much data is available in this regard, And the results are not consistent. Some studies have found that, In the neonatal ward, If you put blindfolds on babies at night, After two or three months, they secreted more melatonin at night than babies without blindfolds. But the difference only stays at hormone levels. Whether wearing blindfold at night has no significant effect on physiological indexes such as body weight. At the same time, some studies have found that day and night regulation in neonatal intensive care unit has no obvious effect on melatonin secretion in newborns.
Why are the results of scientific research so different? To understand this problem, we have to talk about another scientific term: biological rhythm.
Will night lights affect the baby’s biological rhythm?
1. Nightlight does not affect the baby’s biological rhythm,
In fact, on this issue, Pediatricians are also very concerned. Especially for small babies in neonatal wards, Doctors don’t want the artificial light source in the ward to change the baby’s rhythm. However, scientists found that for infants in the neonatal ward, whether the artificial light source or not has no obvious effect on the baby’s biological rhythm, and the rhythm changes such as the baby’s body temperature and sleep are not affected.
2. It is very important for the baby to have a good biological rhythm.
Almost everything in our daily life, such as eating, sleeping and so on, is controlled by biological rhythms. Soon after the baby is born, sleep rhythms and body temperature rhythms will gradually form. And as the baby grows up, The biological rhythm of their body temperature and sleep will become more and more obvious. We have already said above that melatonin secretion is related to light. Then it is not hard to imagine that if the baby can have a good biological rhythm and sleep well at night, it can reduce or even avoid adults turning on headlights to take care of them. In this way, their melatonin secretion will not be affected by light.
This conclusion may reassure some mothers. Not only that, scientists have also found important factors that can really affect the baby’s biological rhythm!
More importantly, sleep patterns and sleep quality
Internet rumors have caused parents to worry about the possible adverse effects of the weak night lights on their babies. However, if they only care about night lights and ignore other more important factors, it is to seek the end of the matter and may affect the healthy growth of their babies.
Compared with the faint light of night lights, mothers should actually pay more attention to their children’s sleep rules and sleep quality to help them maintain normal biological rhythm and hormone secretion.
1. There is more than one night light that affects sleep.
In fact, parents should have a deep understanding, Lighting is not the only factor that affects the baby’s rhythm. Apart from lighting, There are too many other factors that may affect the rhythm of babies. The most common and important thing is nursing. For the babies in the ward mentioned above, many factors such as medical operation and the movement of medical personnel may affect the baby’s sleep and metabolism. Under the combined effect of so many factors, the influence of a small amount of weak light is not so great.
2. Under normal circumstances, the baby’s sleep rhythm is very regular.
In fact, as the baby grows, Children’s sleep rules will gradually form. Under normal circumstances, children’s sleep rhythms are very regular. Many parents have had similar experiences. Children are still alive and jumping for a second, but as long as the fixed time arrives, they will immediately stick to their mothers to sleep, even when the whole family is visiting or traveling.
In fact, children’s sleep rhythm is stable from preschool age to puberty, so parents should pay more attention to children’s poor sleep quality at night.
3. Habits that are easy to ignore and affect children’s sleep.
When parents go to take care of their children who wake up crying at night, they sometimes turn on the headlights. Direct light with high brightness in the dark (even for a few minutes) will stimulate changes in gene expression in nerves and biological clocks, thus affecting hormone secretion. In contrast, The effect of weak night lights seems to be negligible. Cultivate children’s good work and rest habits and avoid the influence of adults’ work and rest or social activities on children’s sleep-these details (especially the latter) may seem simple, but in fact they are easily ignored by us, and their influence on children’s sleep is very obvious.
Summary
Based on the research data currently available, We cannot directly link the use of night lights with development in advance. The rumors on the Internet are only speculation for a few cases. There is no support from the relevant test results. In addition, there are many kinds of night lights on the market, with different colors, brightness and softness of lights. Therefore, it is inappropriate to analyze the effects of night lights on infants’ sleep and development in general.
For parents, It is much more important to cultivate your baby’s good work and rest habits than to worry about the possible impact of night lights. When the family really needs a small night light to take care of the children, Parents can also try their best to buy those with dim and soft lights, and avoid shooting directly into their children’s eyes when using them. If it is perfect, you can put the night lights in the corridor or the next room, and borrow some light when entering the baby’s room. However, it is definitely unnecessary to worry too much about the impact of the use of night lights on children.