As a first-time parent, I received some advice from another experienced mother about sleeping. I also read a couple of sleeping books and most of them said I should build a routine for the baby to sleep from 7 PM to 7 AM.
Honestly, when the baby was still in my tummy, all of that advice sounds doable. Once the baby is born of course bedtime by 7 PM is not easy as you think. But if your kid is sleeping perfectly from 7 PM to 7 AM you probably have better things to do with your time than reading this!.
Here are some simple tricks to help your kid sleep better:
- Find a bedtime schedule that suits your kid
I know all parents want their children to go to bed early so they can relax and enjoy their ‘me’ time or even do house chores. But, unfortunately, bedtimes vary for all children, some easily get tired but some could still play until 11 PM! Most toddlers need between 10-14 hours of sleep in a day (including naps). To set a better bedtime for them, start figuring out when your children normally wake up and work back from there. If you send them to bed too early they will most likely get distracted by any random stuff such as telling you about what they dreamt about yesterday or even telling you their teacher’s pet’s name. If you send them to bed too late, it may cause even more drama as they are over- tired and cranky. But, once you’ve got the perfect bedtime make sure to keep it consistent and it will eventually set their body clock.
- Create a bedtime routine
A simple and consistent bedtime routine can easily help your children to settle into the day easily. Such as, taking a warm bath, brushing teeth, bedtime stories, and goodnight kisses. Doing this routine every day consistently would help your children calm down and after a while, you might find your children spontaneously getting tired from the start of their routine.
- Avoid any stress and overexcitement
It is important to keep your children relaxed and calm before bed as when they are stressed or too excited, their body is not able to relax and go to sleep. Try to keep your little ones’ activities before bedtime, calm and quiet. Soft quiet music and dimmed lights would also help.
- Keep their bedroom at a nice temperature
Our body temperature naturally decreases during sleep and any changes in temperature would disrupt your little one’s precious sleep. A safe sleeping temperature for children is between 18°-22° C. It is also important to dress your little one in nice breathable pyjamas to make sure they are not too cold or too hot. Our bamboo pyjamas are made from extra breathable and high-quality bamboo viscose which keeps your little one cool in summer and warm in winter (click HERE to browse our pyjamas collections).
- Don’t force them to go to sleep but focus on relaxation instead
Children may have trouble falling asleep even when they are really tired. Just like us, someone time when we are really tired we still struggle to fall asleep due to having a busy mind. One moment you put your little one to bed, and the next minute they’re in your bedroom asking “why does the tooth fairy want my teeth?” (it does sound strange and creepy!). Instead of forcing them to go to bed, try to focus on keeping them relaxed. Such as reading bedtime stories, and listening to calming music, but the rule is they must stay in bed!
Just remember you‘re not alone! There are millions of other parents desperately trying to put their children to sleep every night.
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