My five-year-old just walks into my room in the middle of the night – From, “Am cold mummy!”, to “monsters-under- the-bed”, I’ve heard it all! Well, any parent knows that getting a good night’s sleep is important. And to get a ‘straight-8-hours’ of sleep, a clear bedtime routine is a must for kids. We’ve chosen four simple tips that any of us can easily follow to help our kids get to bed and stay there through the night! Check it out.
Set up a ‘sleep mode’
An hour and a half before bedtime, start setting up the aura about the house. Ensure that kids have eaten so they don’t feel hungry at night. Make sure they have used the toilet, showered and are clean-smelling and warm in their soft pyjamas. Keep a bottle of water in case they are thirsty. Its ‘no technology or devices’ time. So, bring out a book to read. Dim the lights and soothe your child into sleep.
Manage the monster under the bed
If your child can have a wild imagination, so can you! I was inspired by Calvin and Hobbes. So, the first time the monster appeared under the bed, we set up a ‘Tiger’ stuff toy under the bed each night. The tiger would devour the monster as soon as it came and it protected my son! Brilliant! Isn’t it? NO! After a week a skeleton appeared on the window. Then we started leaving a dog (toy) on the windowsill to eat the bones of the skeleton. Well, you can always improvise and come up with more ideas. Feel free to share them on editor@littlepanda.cz
Give some reassurance
Children believe and trust you. So, reassure them before bed. Tell them that you would check on them again before you hit the bed and also look-in on them first thing in the morning. Am sure we all do this! Just make it a point to tell them how you adore them when they sleep ‘like angels’ in their bed. It makes them feel that you’re near and around them even when they are asleep.
Create a waking-up-in-bed ritual!
I love this one because it actually worked!! My ritual was really simple. I picked a tiny toy from his toy box and the toy woke him up. I mimicked the toy talking to him – “Wake up Nat, I want to play with you!” Or two cars would argue about who would go to school with Nat. And he had to wake up and decide which one he chose to take to school with him. But these toys would talk to him only if he slept well and woke up on his bed! So it gave him something to look forward to when he woke up on his bed.