You will know the importance of getting enough sleep, of course. The more sleep you get, the more energy you will have in the morning and the healthier you will feel. And the same applies to your children. Like you, they will probably get cranky if they haven’t slept well, and they will struggle to do everything they need to do at school.
As the parent, therefore, you should do all you can to make sure they can sleep well at night.
Here are some suggestions we hope you find useful.
#1: Make sure your child has a comfortable sleeping environment
If your child is too hot or too cold, and if their bed is not comfortable to lie on, you can expect them to have some difficulty getting to sleep at night.
Therefore, do what you can to ensure a more comfortable sleeping environment.
If their room is warm, you could turn on your AC. This should let in a steady flow of cool air to regulate the bedroom temperature. If this doesn’t work for you, either because you need to call somebody out for AC repairs or because you want to lower your utility bills, invest in a couple of table fans to cool the room down.
Remember to change bedding with each season too. Lightweight cotton bedding in the summer and heavier, insulating bedding in the winter, can make all the difference when it comes to how comfortable your child feels at night.
While it’s important to regulate the temperature, it’s also important to regulate the light coming in. The room should be as dark as possible, but if your child is afraid of the dark, invest in a nightlight, as this won’t as glaring as the light you might leave on in your stairway.
And finally, invest in a comfortable mattress for them. Like you, they don’t want to lie on something too lumpy or too springy, so pick out something that offers more scope for relaxation. Check out these best child mattresses for 2021.
#2: Get into a sensible night time routine
The first thing you need to do is set a bedtime for your child, so don’t be tempted to let them stay up longer than they should. This will only interfere with their body clock, and you might have trouble getting them to stick to a set bedtime at other points in the week.
You should also wean them off screen time at least an hour before bedtime. The blue light that is emitted from screens both large and small can wake up their brain and make it harder for them to sleep, so enforce a rule about shut-off time. You can still occupy your children with a bedtime story, a board game, or a craft activity, so they shouldn’t have cause to complain about being bored.
You should be careful about what your child eats and drinks too. Sugary snacks and sodas are out of the question, as your child will become energized, and this isn’t what you want when you’re trying to get them to settle down for the night. If they complain about being hungry, consider these bedtime snacks, and offer them a glass of milk or water if they ask for something to drink.
By following these steps, your child should get a better night’s sleep, and as a consequence, so should you.
