Simple Tips to Help your Kids Sleep Better
Bedtime around here can be like wrangling monkeys at the zoo. In fact, I remember telling my best friend a few days ago about my children’s wild and crazy antics. They can sure keep me on my toes. One thing for sure is I have learned a few tricks that make bedtime easier and none of them involve Repunzel and her frying pan. These tips will help keep you sane when the monkeys get out of hand at bedtime and help your kids sleep better.
Simple Tips to Help Your Kids Sleep Better
The best tip in my arsenal for surviving bedtime and help my kids sleep better lasts all day long. Kids have a natural energy we can’t match without drinking the entire pot of coffee… or three. I let them laze around in the morning in hopes that they will let the baby sleep. Which is vital to my survival because she eats basically all night long still. After breakfast, it’s time to get up and get moving. Sometimes that moving is helping with major chores around the house. When the weather is nice it’s making a ruckus with the neighborhood kids. Sometimes it’s running back and forth like mini-tornadoes… either way it gets off that energy.
Hunt down the blankets, pillows, and loves BEFORE bedtime. Kids have a tendency to drag these items around the house all day long. As we speak there is a fort in my family room. We hunt these down and get them settled BEFORE bedtime or well you just know they will start whining that they want that one toy to cuddle with. I never enjoy the six trips up and down the stairs for bedtime.
Turn off the screens. Screen time is one of those things that kids just gravitate to. Around here YouTube is the thing to put on when mom turns her head. TV, Phones, and other electronic devices emit a blue light that has been proven to interrupt sleep patterns making it hard for kids and adults alike to get a good nights sleep.
Create a relaxing bedtime routine to help your child sleep better at night. When we give our bodies time to de-stress and wind down they relax more and sleep better. Giving your child a bedtime routine can help them get more sleep.
Give a humidifier and lavender essential oil a try. Harsh winters mean we have the furnace running and the air in our homes get very dry. This makes getting quality sleep difficult. For a double whammy pick a humidifier that allows the use of essential oils or go with an ultrasonic diffuser that pushes tiny particles of water out into the air. Fill the diffuser with lavender to help your kids fall asleep easier and sleep better all night long.
Choose a comfortable bed that your child will want to stay in. We all know that feeling of a bed that just begs us not to leave. Soft, warm, and cozy enough to make us want to stay. While we often think of treating ourselves to beds like this our children can really benefit from a good bed as well.
Sleep Troubles in Kids
If your child is sleeping poorly nearly every night, you should look into it more deeply. About 2 to 3 percent of children suffer from a sleeping disorder called sleep apnea, which is linked to poor sleep quality. Sleep apnea is characterized by breathing pauses that can last between 10 seconds and 20 seconds and can occur several times in an hour during sleep. You can read this guide to know more about sleep apnea, its signs and symptoms, and treatment options.
Sleep is essential to children’s growth and development. Sleep troubles should be addressed right away to ensure your child gets quality sleep every night.
As a little girl I shared a room wiht my baby sister. She snored hard and oloud but she did something that was rather scary. She would stop snoring and hold her breath for a moment then start breathing again with a loud snore repeatedly all night long. I will never forget poking her belly to force her start breathing before they did a sleep study and got her a cpap machine that allowed her to keep breathing all night long.
