Trying to wrangle your children into bed occasionally feels akin to herding cats, but it can be simpler than you think with a set routine. Though there will occasionally be days when it is harder than others, having a set bedtime routine will only be beneficial for your toddlers. Here are some top tips to help you craft the perfect night-time routine for your little ones.
Make Their Room a Place They Want to Be
As toddlers, they will now begin to get a feeling for things they like and dislike. You undoubtedly decorated their bedroom the first time, but now you should see if there are any changes they would like to make.
You can also encourage them to feel a little more grown up by moving them into a larger bed, be it a move from a cot to a junior bed or up to a full-sized bed. Have a read of this article on how to adjust your child to a bigger bed to make sure that you are in the best position to help your child get to know their new bed.
Set a Bedtime
Your children should all have a bedtime and it should be stuck to as much as possible. Work out how long your children should be sleeping for based on their age and then work backwards from the time they need to be up in the morning to find the bedtime sweet-spot. While you can be laxer at weekends or on holidays, you should be firm during the week to ensure that they are in bed.
Make It a Wind-down
Letting your children get too excited, and then expecting them to get into bed and go straight to sleep, is simply not feasible. Instead, work on getting them to wind-down and relax as bedtime approaches.
Baths and snack-time are a great way to get them into this state of relaxation. Another way to do so is to make sure their room is dark and quiet when they are ready to go to bed. Get some thick curtains to block out outside light and a warm bed-side lamp to light the room softly.
Keep the Screens Away
In the hour before bedtime, try to keep screens away from your children. The screen’s blue light can overstimulate us and cause us to stay awake longer than we should. Instead of letting them watch a film or a TV show before they go to sleep, why not read to them? Let them choose the books and you can sit and have some quality time together before you go to sleep.
These are four great tips to ensure that you can make bedtime pass as smooth as possible for all involved. It doesn’t have to be a battle or a struggle. Take your time and try to put together a routine you can all enjoy. With a little hard work to get the ball rolling, your children will soon hopefully hop into bed with no worries whatsoever.
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