There are so many different nightlights available in the market that it’s hard to choose the best one for your toddler. Although nightlights are marketed for kids, parents will benefit most from a good purchase. Let’s go through the essential points of a nightlight before making a decision.

What is a nightlight?

As you may have already deduced from the name, a night light is a source of light that is left on unattended during bedtime. These lights are made to shine a dim glow within a room to support sleep. In addition, nightlights have several benefits for both parent and child:

​What to look for in a nightlight

Despite the huge market of nightlights, finding the right one isn’t too difficult. Just make sure that the light functions properly and does what you need from it. The main things to look for in nightlights are:

Types of nightlights

There are five types of nightlights with different power sources for you to choose from.

1. Plug-in

Plug-in nightlights are the lights you are remembering from your own childhood. These nightlights are plugged into an electrical socket and left on all night. These are best placed in between the baby’s crib and changing station, meaning that you may have to make some furniture adjustments to the bedroom. The main drawback with plug-in nightlights is their immobility, so you’re out of luck if a part of the room isn’t receiving light.

2. Projection

A projection nightlight projects an image onto the ceiling and/or wall of your toddler’s bedroom. These come with fun images and patterns for your children to stare at as they doze off. One problem with projection nightlights is that it must be placed at a certain distance from the projection surface. Too close and the images will appear too small, and too far will blur the pictures.

3. ​Lamp and shade

Some parents prefer to place a traditional lamp and shade on a nearby table as source of nighttime lighting. Unless they are installed with a dim light bulb, you’ll find it disturbing your child’s sleep. Like plug-ins, these lights are pretty much placed in one spot and cannot be moved.

4. Soft light

Soft lights are stuffed animals or dolls with a light source installed within the interior of the doll. They are soft, cuddly, and can comfort your toddler when it’s time for bed. A big problem with these light-up dolls is that they are a bad source of light when it comes to finding your way around the baby’s room and doing midnight diaper changes. You will have to rely on other light sources which could interrupt you toddler’s sleep.

5. Portable

Portable nightlights don’t need to be plugged in at all during bedtime. They run on rechargeable batteries (sometimes through USB) which allows for the light to be placed anywhere in the room.

Some parents may even opt for the ancient nighttime candle lighting method. Although it is the only option that doesn’t use electricity, it is a huge fire hazard if left unattended throughout the long night. This goes without saying, but if you choose a candle as your nighttime light source, please extinguish it when it is no longer needed. In fact, for all types of unattended lighting, please ensure that there are no flammable materials near the lights and electrical sources.

Nightlight features

While the main function is to cast a soft glow in the child’s bedroom, some nightlights come with extra features which further support a good night’s sleep. These features are:

What to get

Now we know the basics of a nightlight, it’s time to make our decision. It can be tricky due to the seemingly-infinite number of nightlight products out there. However, there is a sleek nightlight that stands out above the rest.

The best nightlight out right now is called the Boon Glo Color-Changing Nightlight with Portable Glowing Balls. Although it’s not the latest product (it’s been out for several years now), it does the job perfectly. It comes with three detachable BPA-free, glow-in-the-dark bulbs that absorb light from the base and give a phosphorescent radiance for up to 30 minutes. On the base, you can find a tiny notch which slides to change the light’s color. If left in its default setting, the lights will change automatically.

The Boon Glo provides the perfect amount of light for midnight checks, feedings and diaper changing. As for children, they will be attracted to the multi-colored balls of light that illuminate the room with their soft but piercing glow. Your toddler will be begging you to turn the lights off in order to enjoy the soothing color changes and dim shine.

The balls can be taken from the base and placed next to a child for providing short-range sight. Parents don’t need to worry about any choking hazards since the Boon Glo’s base cable can be placed at a distance from the toddler’s crib, and the balls are far too large to fit in a child’s mouth.

This nightlight lacks an alarm and music features, but this is completely fine since the green glow from the detached balls can soothe even the fussiest child. It doesn’t project any fun images onto the ceiling but the glowing balls can become a nighttime plaything in the crib.

Overall, the Boon Glo is a simple but elegant nightlight, perfect for providing adequate lighting within a dark room, and its changing colors and phosphorescent glow are like a lullaby of lights. Boon also offers replacement Glo balls in sets of three.