Nala
It's 3am. The baby is hungry, you need to see just enough to feed and change them, and the ceiling light would leave you both wide awake. The phone flashlight is worse: a white beam straight into sleepy eyes. That's the moment I made Nala for.
How to turn your iPhone into a red night light
- Open Nala and tap the red light. It's one of the three free lights, with warm white and a warm glow. It uses Display P3 red, the deepest red your iPhone screen can show.
- Slide the brightness down until you can just see what you need. It goes down to 5%. Pinch the screen to make the light smaller or bigger.
- Tap the light to hide every button, so the screen shows only red. Put the phone on a shelf or the dresser, screen facing away from the baby.
- Set a sleep timer if you might doze off in the chair. When it ends, the light fades to black. If you need a sound to resettle the baby, white noise is free too and keeps playing with the phone locked.
Real screens from the app, red light selected. Slide left to dim it; 5% is the lowest setting. Tap the light and all the buttons disappear.
Red light vs phone flashlight for night feeds
Most of us start with whatever is in reach. Here is how the usual options compare at 3am, on practical points only.
Illustrations, not photos of a test. They show the idea, not a measurement.
| Phone flashlight | Ordinary warm lamp | Dim red iPhone screen (Nala) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Color | Cold white | Warm white or yellow | Deep red |
| Can you dim it? | A few steps, still harsh up close | Only with a dimmer bulb | Yes, down to 5% |
| Where the light goes | A narrow beam, easy to shine in someone's eyes | The whole room | A soft glow around the phone |
| Hands free | Only if you prop the phone up | Yes | Yes, buttons hide and the screen stays on |
| Turns itself off | No | No, unless on a timer plug | Yes, sleep timer fades it to black |
| Extra gear | None | A lamp near the bed | None, the phone you already have |
This is about convenience and comfort, not a measured health effect.
What research says about dim light at night
Light is the strongest signal your body clock uses to tell day from night. What we know depends a lot on who was studied.
- Adults. Blue light, around 460 to 480 nm, suppresses melatonin, the hormone that helps us feel sleepy, more than any other color (1, 2). When researchers compared colors directly, blue and green light suppressed melatonin the most, and red and amber less (3).
- Young children. In small studies of 3 to 5 year olds, an hour of evening light, even fairly dim light, cut melatonin by more than three quarters (4, 5), and warm light suppressed it less than cool light of the same brightness (6).
- Newborns and babies under one. There are no studies of this. Nobody can promise that a red light keeps a baby asleep or stops night wakings. The advice for night feeds is still the same everywhere: keep the lights low and the room calm, so your baby learns that night is different from day (7).
Red is the color your body clock is least sensitive to. A dim red glow gives you enough light to see, while sending a weaker "it's daytime" signal than white light. The full story is in the guide Is red light better than white light at night?
Where to position your phone safely
- Keep the phone out of the crib and off the crib rail. A shelf, the dresser or your bedside table is fine.
- Keep charging cables at least 3 feet (1 meter) away from the crib (8).
- Point the light at your hands, not at the baby's face. Bounced light is softer.
- Prepare before bed: phone charged or plugged in, Nala already on the red light, so you only have to open it.
- Talk softly and keep it short. Feed, change, back to bed (9). More in the guide: How to do night feeds without fully waking up.
Questions parents ask
Can I use my iPhone as a red night light?
Yes. Nala fills your iPhone screen with a deep red light, the deepest red the screen can show, and lets you dim it down to 5%. Tap the light to hide the buttons and the screen shows only red. The red light is free, with no ads and no account.
Why use red light at night instead of white?
Studies in adults show that blue and white light suppress melatonin, the hormone that helps us feel sleepy, far more than red or amber light. Studies in young children suggest they are even more sensitive to evening light. There are no such studies in babies under one, so a red light is not proven to keep a newborn asleep. It is simply the gentlest way to get enough light to see by.
Is a phone screen bad for a baby at night?
Bright, blue-rich screen light is what to avoid at night. If you use your phone as a night light, make it red or warm, keep it as dim as possible, point the screen away from the baby, keep it out of the crib, and turn it off when you're done. Nala's timer can do that for you.
Will the red light stay on if my phone locks?
Nala keeps the screen awake while the light is on, for up to 3 hours, so the light doesn't switch off in the middle of a feed. A sleep timer can turn it off for you.
Get the red light, free
Sources
- Brainard GC et al. Action spectrum for melatonin regulation in humans. Journal of Neuroscience, 2001.
- Thapan K, Arendt J, Skene DJ. An action spectrum for melatonin suppression. Journal of Physiology, 2001.
- Wright HR, Lack LC. Effect of light wavelength on suppression and phase delay of the melatonin rhythm. Chronobiology International, 2001.
- Akacem LD, Wright KP, LeBourgeois MK. Sensitivity of the circadian system to evening bright light in preschool-age children. Physiological Reports, 2018.
- Hartstein LE et al. High sensitivity of melatonin suppression response to evening light in preschool-aged children. Journal of Pineal Research, 2022.
- Hartstein LE et al. The circadian response to evening light spectra in early childhood: preliminary insights. Journal of Biological Rhythms, 2025.
- NHS. Helping your baby to sleep.
- U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Baby monitor cord safety alert.
- American Academy of Pediatrics, HealthyChildren.org. Getting your baby to sleep.