Worn out from getting your kids off to sleep? These resources will help ease a recurring parents' nightmare.
Okay so we've included a round up of calm mornings for kids, so we thought it was about time we looked at bedtime routines too.
Earlier this year the Telegraph featured an article on the importance of sleep, especially for young children. It claims that the children who sleep well actually end up doing better in their studies, is sleep truly the key our kids’ success?
Making their room a place they love is a great way to get kids to enjoy bedtime routines, sometimes it can just be a lick of paint and slight rearrange or a complete renovation. Violet Posy rearranged her daughter’s room to give her a space she loved to be in, as a bonus it also gave her more room to play with her friends. A quick room change can make kids excited about their bedrooms again, once they love their room all you have to worry about is getting them to love their bed!
If you struggle with night-time routines, you may find comfort in Josie’s post on her amazing blog ‘sleep is for the weak’. She discusses her battles with bedtime and the various routines she uses for quieter nights. Tara's post on how, sometimes, persistence is the key to success also offers wisdom borne out of experience.
See Child-psych.org for an excellent, gradual positive bedtime routine procedure. The site offers a breakdown that’s easy to implement, the site even claims such routines are effective in reducing sleep problems. Yay!
Reallykidfriendly.com recommend the Ready for Bed week website due to their fun and useful Bedtime Reward Charts to enable you to monitor your child’s progress and help your child feel proud of how well they are doing. Check out their tips and ideas across the site for more tranquil night-time ideas.
The Supernanny website offers straightforward, simple advice on getting kids to behave at night time. They quote "Your child’s development will benefit from a daily 11 to 12 hours of sleep, and it’s vital for your relationship that you and your partner have time to yourselves, too."
If you have any tips and advice on night-time routines, we would love to hear from you. Please feel free to share your opinions on the discussions featured here, or suggest more links in the comments below.
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admin
04 October, 2010
At the risk of making no friends at all here - we've never had a problem with bedtime. Since our eldest was 6 months old I've always worked evenings from home, so she had to be in bed and settled by 7pm in order for me to have enough time to get the dinner on and start working. I have a fairly no-nonsence approach to bedtime; it's calm, full of cuddles and a story, it's the same every night, and I don't let my children stay up as a "treat" because I don't think it does them any good at all the following day. We carried the same routine through with the two boys and rarely have any trouble getting them to bed either. I do have friends who struggle a lot with their children at bedtime so I can fully appreciate how frustrating and upsetting it can be to the while family. I will definately pass on the great advice above.
Leigh
Ready for Ten Team