Make Bedtime Easy, Naturally
10 tips to make bedtime easy (well easier anyway)…
We know that sleep is the one of the building blocks of mental health and wellbeing. Many children and just about all teenagers are sleep-deprived at the moment. Many parents are sleep-deprived as well!
Children need between 10 and 12 hours’ sleep to enable proper growth and development, while teenagers need a minimum of nine hours. One of the single most powerful strategies to improve kids’ abilities to cope with stressful or changing situations is to ensure they get enough sleep.
We are excited to be stocking Dinosnores, guided meditation and relaxation with sleepy stories and soundscapes to help kids learn good sleep time habits. Here’s 10 tips for helping children sleep from Sherene Alfreds, developer of Dinosnores Sleepy Stories:
- Have a regular bedtime.
- Make the bedroom comfortable dark place to sleep, with no television or other electronic devices
- Have a regular calming bedtime routine. In our home we do bath, teeth, books, then Dinosnores sleepy story CD.
- Avoid the “I can’t sleep” argument. Ask children to “lie down and rest their bodies” instead of telling them to “go to sleep”.
- Avoid TV, computer or electronic games after dinner, they have all been found to make sleep more difficult.
- Get the kids out exercising in the day to help them sleep at night.
- Avoid caffeine and sugar saturated foods.
- Consider dropping daytime naps as your child gets older.
- Talk to your doctor to rule out medical causes of sleep difficulties
- During the holidays, anticipate some disruption at bedtime if you are changing your family routine.
And give yourselves and your children permission to find bedtime challenging. An enormous 30-40% of young and school-aged children have sleeping difficulties. It takes time to develop a bedtime routine – so be kind to yourself and your kids.
Take care,
Michael
NB: For more parenting tips and tricks, be sure to check out my Parenting Ideas website.
Michael Grose
A popular presenter, Michael Grose speaks to parents, teachers and principals on a regular basis.Michael comes from an education background, and has conducted post-graduate research into what makes healthy families tick.He's given over 1500 parenting presentations, including the first parenting seminar in Parliament House, Canberra.Michael is married with three adult children who have all successfully flown the parent nest.
Latest posts by Michael Grose (see all)
- Why your kids should make their bed every day - January 14, 2017
- Teaching Problem-Solving Skills to Kids - October 5, 2016
- Children’s happiness starts with this - September 10, 2016
