💡 Bedtime Light Audit
What you can't see is what's wrecking the wind-down: most homes are 10-100x brighter at 8pm than humans evolved with. Ten questions, then a prioritized fix list. Nothing stored, nothing sent — runs in your browser.
Based on circadian-light research (Brainard et al. 2001 on melatonin suppression, Burgess & Molina 2014 on bedroom light thresholds, Hartstein et al. 2022 on preschoolers and evening light).
The thresholds that matter
- < 10 lux ambient in the hour before sleep — what bedroom-light research recommends. Hard to hit without dim-only fixtures.
- 30-100 lux — most "low" bedroom lighting. Already suppresses melatonin by ~50% in children (Hartstein 2022).
- 200+ lux — standard overhead living-room light. Should be off 60-90 min before bedtime.
- Blue-light wavelength < 500nm is the suppression-driver. Warm white (~2700K) and amber tones are much friendlier.
The two biggest mistakes parents make
- Overhead light during bath/wind-down. Even a 30-min ceiling-light exposure delays melatonin onset by 60-90 min in kids. Use a dim lamp instead.
- Hallway light bleed. A bright hallway visible through a cracked door is often the actual problem. A keyhole-slit of bright light hits the retina at the same intensity as standing under the fixture.
What dim looks like
If you can read a book comfortably without squinting, it's too bright for the bedtime hour. "Just enough to see where you're going" is the right target. Warm amber bulbs (2700K and below) or a dim red night-light if any night-light at all.