When it comes to bedtime, kids can be a real nightmare. Kicking, screaming, crying – there’re few kids out there who willingly go to bed with a cheery cooperative attitude. The tantrums especially come out in full force on Sunday evening, when after a weekend of fun, schools Monday morning will be a drag.
Coercing your kids to bed is one thing, but ensuring they actually get a good night’s sleep is another entirely. How can it be done?
Consequently, here’s a few tips for helping your kids get to sleep better.
The right screens
When bedtime has come, you can screen off the outside world for your kids with a pair of quality curtains. For example, the grey curtains that Direct Blinds provide can be particularly effective here; they’re muted, understated, and go well with just about any room décor you have. They’re perfect setting a sleepy mood and are neutral enough to not start a fuss about your chosen design choices.
Additionally, make sure that electronic screens are firmly out of your children’s reach. Phones, iPads, laptops – they should all be in a different room entirely. Social media can be an extreme distraction, and while some studies indicate that time spent on screens has little effect on children’s sleep, if your kids are on their devices all night things obviously change here. They won’t need their mobile phones if they’re at home, so stash them away elsewhere until morning.
Read to them
Kids are powered by creativity. They’re masters at playing pretend and inventing stories, and love to live in worlds they’ve dreamt up themselves. It could also be that they’re enchanted by fictional worlds such as Harry Potter, which really uplifts their spirits. Though it’s bedtime, you don’t need to necessarily mute their imaginations here…
If your kids are quite young, it could be that a classic bedtime story could be just the thing to help them drift off to sleep. It sets their worries aside and dismisses thoughts of school in the morning, and just really immerses them in the things they love. Additionally, when they have something to look forward to at bedtime (aka a good book), they won’t do everything they can to stall it!
Franchise themes
It was mentioned briefly prior to this heading, but kids do love their franchises; the aforementioned Harry Potter, The Marvel Cinematic Universe, Doctor Who, etc. Well. When they’re surrounded by the things they love, they may just be more inclined to go to sleep comfortably without even a whisper of complaint.
Consequently, you should consider decorating your child’s room with their favourite films, books and TV shows in mind. When they feel really at home with the space, it’ll help them to ease up, relax and get some sleep. If they have more ideas for decorating their room, listen to them. Within reason, these little things are just the ticket to calm them down and nudge them along in actively enjoying bedtime.
Do you struggle with getting kids to sleep? What do you think of the tips mentioned above? Do share in a comment below.
We swear by the routine that is baths and reading stories in that order plus blacked out bedrooms especially during the almost all night daylight Swedish summers
Routine all the way. Bit of TV to wind down, bath or shower and then stories with the lights low! Usually works for us- until the incessant questions anyway
I find a good routine helps and less screen time before bed. Otherwise we have arguments and it’s not a good night.
Routine is key for us. Bath, story and bed and they are really good at going off to sleep.
I do struggle, she’s still quite young but I plan on making positive associations with bedtime once she understands a bit better. For now we have bath, story, milk and bed. (To get up with her every hour after). I think I may have to invest in some good black out curtains.
Great tips here. The big one for me was black out blinds, they made SUCH a difference to our bedtime routine!
Great tips here. We don’t let the boys have screens in their room but we do let them watch the CBeebies bedtime hour straight before bed, maybe we need to change that. Bedtime stories are a must in this house, no way my boys will drop off without one xx
I have a household with triplet boys sharing a room. When one wakes up crying, they all do. I just click on their beds to take a nap. If it doesn’t last till morning, I just click on it again.