Where is the best place to put a night light in baby’s nursery? Does it really matter, or is one spot as good as another?

A few moments of thoughtful consideration and scanning the nursery is essential before installing a nursery night light.

If you are using the popular, plug-in type night light, your placement choice will obviously be limited by where the outlets are in the nursery. If you have a portable battery style night light, your placement options will be much greater.

Stand at the doorway of your baby’s nursery and scan the room, keeping in mind the following important nursery night light placement tips:

• If you will need to flip a switch to turn the night light on, plug it in near the entry so that you have immediate, easy access to it. Do not block the night light with furniture or plug it in behind a door, as it will only be that much more troublesome to get to, especially in the dark.

• Consider the purpose of the night light: If you want it to prevent you from tripping on furniture or bumping into walls, place the night light so that it illuminates a clear path for you to enter the nursery. If you want the night light to provide light while you are rocking and feeding baby, place accordingly. Likewise, if you want the night light to send light to the diaper changing table, place accordingly. If you’d like it to do all these things, figure out the most strategic location.

• If the best placement spot is escaping you, simply try the night light out in a few different spots.

• ALWAYS place the night light away from bedding, drapes, or fabric of any kind–or anything that could catch fire, especially if the night light has a standard glass bulb that gets hot. Cool touch LED night lights are highly recommended as safer alternatives; they’re also long-lasting and energy efficient, as well as inexpensive.

• Place the night light where baby  can’t touch it. Stop and really think about this. Could baby possible reach out through the crib slats and touch the night light? Or grab at it from the diaper changing station? Don’t be caught unaware. Babies are attracted to bright and dangerous things.

• Place the night light low. Even if the sole purpose of the night light is to provide a comforting light for baby, don’t place the night light so that light shines directly on baby’s face, as this could be quite disturbing to baby’s sleep–and thus, to yours!