Hi, I’m Julie Carty, the founder of Light Ahead LLC and the inventor of LatchLight. Before creating this product, I spent over a decade working in healthcare with Southern California hospitals, focusing on improving patient care, preventing infections, and evaluating products and processes that made it easier for patients and caregivers to do the right thing to achieve better outcomes. This mindset—to simplify and improve processes to enhance the health and well-being of others—didn’t stop when I became a mom myself. Instead, it became even more personal.
I hold a master’s degree in Health Regulation and Law from UCSD and am passionate about supporting parents and children. As a member of the Family Advisory Council at Rady Children’s Hospital and a soon-to-be certified patient advocate through UCLA, I’ve dedicated my life to helping families thrive.
As a mom, I know firsthand the challenges of navigating sleepless nights with little ones. Those moments can feel overwhelming, but my mission with LatchLight is to make them just a little bit easier. When designing this product, I dove deep into the science behind lighting and its impact on sleep. This blog is a culmination of what I’ve learned and a guide to creating an optimal sleep environment for your family. I’ll also share some of my favorite products that align with my mission to help parents and little ones get as much restful sleep as possible.
Creating the Ideal Sleep Environment for the Family: The Power of Light, Color, and Sound
When it comes to sleep, creating the optimal environment is crucial—not only for babies and toddlers but also for parents and everyone else in the household. The best sleep environment is one that’s completely dark. Even small amounts of light, like the glow from electronics, can interfere with melatonin production, a hormone essential for sleep. Complete darkness is ideal for maintaining healthy melatonin levels and promoting restful sleep.
However, as parents of newborns and toddlers know, there are times when you need light to navigate nighttime parenting duties, such as feeding or changing diapers. In these moments, it’s important to use the right type of lighting. Let’s explore how the type and color of light affect sleep, why maintaining total darkness is key, and how to create a sleep-friendly environment, even when you need light for those late-night tasks.
Why Light Matters: Understanding the Science
From both my professional and personal experience, I’ve come to appreciate how significantly light influences our ability to sleep. The hormone melatonin, which regulates our sleep-wake cycle, is particularly sensitive to light exposure. Artificial light, especially blue light emitted by screens and electronics, can suppress melatonin production, disrupting our sleep cycles. As a mom, I’ve seen how even tiny lights—like the glow of a baby monitor—can disrupt my children's sleep.
Research supports this, showing that even minimal light exposure at night can delay sleep onset and reduce sleep quality. That’s why I designed LatchLight to emit a warm, targeted glow that minimizes melatonin suppression, making nighttime tasks like feedings and diaper changes easier without fully waking anyone up.
Red Light: The Best Choice for Sleep... With a Catch
Red light is widely considered the best option for nighttime illumination. It's the least disruptive to melatonin production, allowing you and your baby to stay in a more sleep-friendly state even when you need to get up during the night, like soothing your baby back to sleep, red light is optimal for keeping your body in "sleep mode."
However, there’s one important drawback: while red light is great for softly illuminating a space and helping everyone stay in "sleepy mode," it scores low on the Color Rendering Index (CRI). This means it doesn't show colors accurately, making it harder to see specific details when you need full visibility.
For example, during infant night feedings, when you're trying to ensure a proper latch, or when assessing the mother's areola, skin, or even the bottle, red light may not provide the clarity you need. Additionally, when changing a dirty diaper, it’s important to make sure a bottom is thoroughly cleaned to prevent diaper rash and other skin irritations—something that’s more difficult to do with red light. For these moments, using a soft, blue-reduced near red light can offer better visibility without disrupting melatonin production, ensuring you can handle those tasks with accuracy and care.
A Balanced Solution: LatchLight for Night Feedings
For moms navigating night feedings, the challenge is finding a light that’s sleep-friendly but still functional for tasks like checking the baby’s latch. This is where LatchLight shines. LatchLight’s gentle, adjustable, and targeted glow is designed specifically for nighttime feedings, offering just enough light to see clearly without disrupting sleep. Its narrow, angled beam illuminates only the baby’s latch, unlike bedside lamps that cast light across the entire room! Unlike pure red light, LatchLight offers the perfect balance between visibility and preserving melatonin production, allowing you to ensure a proper latch while keeping everyone in sleepy-mode.
Total Darkness for Optimal Rest
When feedings and diaper changes are done, the ideal sleep environment is one of total darkness. Darkness signals the brain to release melatonin, promoting deeper, more restorative sleep. While achieving complete darkness at home can be challenging, tools like the SlumberPod, a portable blackout tent, make it possible even while traveling. This product has been a game-changer for our family, creating a cozy and light-free space for my kids no matter where we are.
A bonus feature of the SlumberPod that isn’t talked about enough? Not only is it amazing for sleep, but it’s also my daughter’s favorite role-play toy. She uses it to play mama with her baby doll, tackling those night feeds like a pro. As you know, you might as well learn the challenges early on!
Don’t Forget Sound: The Power of White Noise
Light isn’t the only factor that affects sleep—sound plays a crucial role too. White noise helps mask sudden sounds that could wake your baby and mimics the soothing environment of the womb. The SlumberPod 2-in-1 Sound Machine, which includes a red light feature, combines these two essential tools for a sleep-friendly environment.
Closing Thoughts
As a mom and healthcare advocate, I understand how important sleep is for the whole family. By being intentional about the type of light and sound in your environment, you can create a more restful space for everyone. Whether it’s using LatchLight, incorporating red light strategically, blocking out light with SleepBetter DarkOut stickers, or traveling with SlumberPod, small changes to your sleep environment can make a significant difference.
Thank you for allowing me to share my journey and insights with you. Together, we can make those sleepless nights a little easier—and a lot more manageable. My hope is to help moms and new parents see the light ahead during the challenging sleep-deprived times.
