As parents, it's up to us to make sure our children follow a set of bedtime procedures and have a healthy sleep environment.
Here are some ideas to get your child into a sleeping routine that helps them fall asleep by themselves and keeps them in their own bed all night.
• Aim to finish your evening meal a good 2 hours before your child's bedtime. Time to digest food is important in getting a child into a relaxed state.
• Give your child a warm bath after dinner. This gives them time to play by themselves. In the case of particularly boisterous kids, it also helps them to calm down.
• After bath time, get your child dressed in comfortable pajamas and make sure they brush their teeth, take any medication and make a trip to the toilet.
• You'll be tempted to simply sit down in front of the TV and let your child fall asleep. Don't. Children are like sponges. Firstly they shouldn't be watching primetime TV, and secondly, watching television means you miss out on family time.
• Instead of watching television, tuck your child into bed and read them a short story. Studies have shown that watching television makes children more alert and less likely to want to fall asleep.
• Lighting plays an important role when reading to a child. The more light there is in a child's room at bedtime, the more likely they are to want to stay awake. A soft bedside lamp is ideal.
• Don't get too carried away with bedtime storytelling as this will simply make your child more alert. Your objective is to calm them down and get them to realize just how tired they are.
• Make sure your child's room is quiet, dark, cool and comfortable. An ideal sleeping temperature for a young child is 17 Degrees (Celsius).
• After telling your story, say goodnight and leave quietly. At this point you're probably thinking that this routine won't work. At first it may not, but as long as you can keep to the same routine each night for a few nights, you'll see that it does.
Finally, bear in mind that children who can fall asleep by themselves are less likely to wake you in the middle of the night making excuses about nightmares, strange sounds or any number of other amazing stories they seem able to come up with at 2am. And if children are able to go back to sleep by themselves they will not only be able to get more rest, but they'll allow you to get the rest you need to enjoy them when they wake up full of energy the next morning. by David Salt
