Ouiam El Hassani tells us the 7 steps to forming great sleeping habits in kids.
For many families, summer is a season when rules relax, and bedtimes get pushed back a little later than usual. However, with school restarting shortly, weekday mornings are about to start a lot earlier for many kids, and parents might be wondering how to reset the clock on bedtimes.
The worst thing you can do is leave it to the last minute and hope your child will have a great first day at school… chances are this will not work! Having enough sleep is essential for anyone to function well during the day; however, many kids don’t know enough about sleep and might even perceive it as a great big timeout where they’re missing out on things. Hence the importance of having conversations about sleep with your kids to get them up to speed.
Before you start the conversation, make sure it is during a time when they are attentive and open to conversation, not tired or cranky. You also need to consider the following points:
1- Be Positive About Sleep
Make sure that younger children, especially, understand that sleep is a positive thing, and don’t use the threat of bedtime as a punishment. Talk to your kids about how a lack of sleep can impact one’s mood, health, and academic ability. Just as we teach our kids about the importance of eating healthy, we should teach them about the importance of sleeping healthy from an early age.
2- Empower Your Children with Choices
It’s important to empower children with choices around bedtime because the one thing they can’t have a choice in is the fact that they do need to go to sleep. They will be more accountable, more responsible, and hopefully, develop good sleep habits early in life if we empower them through simple choices. So maybe you can ask them which pajamas they would like to wear, what book they would like to read before bed etc.
3- Let Them Do Their Own Bedtime Math
Instead of just telling kids when they need to go to bed, involve them in figuring out an appropriate bedtime. Before you raise your eyebrow, let me explain further… Have your children check online for how much sleep they need depending on their age, and figure out together when the child can go to bed and when they can wake up. Use those math skills.
4- Add One Sleep Item to the Back-to-School Shopping List
Add one sleep-related item to the back-to-school shopping list; it can really help children understand the importance of sleep as they head back into the classroom. A conversation about how getting a good night’s sleep is vital for school success, combined with a shopping trip for a new pillowcase or comforter, can really help children see sleep as a priority and give them something to look forward to using at bedtime.
5- Provide An Environment Conducive to Sleep
When our kids are infants, we’re really good at setting up rooms that can help them sleep. But as our children age out of cribs and start to accumulate many possessions and playthings, their rooms can become a less ideal sleeping environment.
Sleep specialists recommend removing stimulating toys from the child’s room, or storing them in another area of the house, and never putting televisions, tablets or smartphones in a child’s room.
6- Enact A Media Curfew
At least an hour before bedtime, screen time should come to an end, and other, more relaxing, activities can begin.
7- Remember: It’s Never Too Late for Good Sleep Habits
Specialists see the age of three as the ideal time to start reinforcing the importance of sleep for a child’s health, but older kids and even mom and dad can reverse bad bedtime habits if the whole family buys in. Parents will have to actively participate in making bedtime fun, enjoyable, and tears free.
This may be the season to tweak your own sleep habits too, mama. Here’s to a well-rested September.
