How to Get Your Children to Sleep at Night

A dysfunctional bedtime routine is a nightmare that all too many parents face; getting your children off to sleep at a decent time, without power-struggles, is essential to the health of the whole family. A peaceful night-time routine needn’t be a luxury; claim the evening as your own with these simple steps to a successful bedtime:

Encourage calm

A successful bedtime routine starts long before reaching the bedroom. Children need to understand the process of winding down before bed. Activities before bedtime should be gentle and calming; reading is a brilliant way to engage your child whilst slowing the pace. Stimulating activities like TV and games consoles should be kept to a minimum before bedtime. If your children like to settle down in the lounge before bedtime, dim the lighting to start creating a bedtime atmosphere.

Create the right environment

When it’s time to get settled into bed, make sure that their bedroom is providing a relaxing environment. Try to avoid using the bedroom for time-out or punishments, the bedroom needs to be associated with a place of peace and comfort. Make sure that the room is as dark as possible; the sleep hormone melatonin is produced in darkness, helping your child to get to sleep quickly. If your child is sacred of the dark, use a small night light as opposed to leaving the door open; hearing the rest of the family up and about can lead to bedtime disruptions. If you find your child playing with toys when they should be sleeping, make sure you make these inaccessible.

Wrap-up the day

As you tuck your child in for bed, now is the time to chat about the positives of the day and discuss any worries that your child may have. Now is the time to make tomorrow seem more appealing to, talk about what they have to look forward to in the morning as this can encourage them to go straight to sleep. Another wonderful tip is to give your little one’s something to dream about; create a plot which they can lie back and imagine as they fall asleep. A cuddle and kiss is a nice comforting gesture for children to receive just before you turn of the light and leave the room.

Reinforce routine

Consistency is key to bedtime success and your children need to be aware of the routine that you are reinforcing each night. Let them know what to expect in the lead up to bedtime; for example, ‘we’ll be putting pajamas on in 5 minutes’ and then ‘we’ll be brushing our teeth in 2 minutes’ and then ‘it’s time for a bedtime story’. Try to keep your bedtime routine at the same length each night; this will help provide a healthy and relaxing pattern which will help them feel secure.

Be persistent

Sticking to a bedtime routine requires parents to be persistent, which can be hard. When your child keeps getting-up at night, calmly put them back into bed without talking or providing them affection. A robot like approach is required, and it will most likely be exhausting at first, but it’s the only way your child will learn there’s no reward for getting out of bed at bedtime.

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