This is a guest post.
Making sure that your child gets a good’s night sleep is often as important for you as it is for them. Below is a list of top tips on techniques that you can use to try and help your child to get to sleep:
- One great way of helping your child to sleep well in the evenings is by giving them a warm bath, perhaps with some relaxing bubble bath or oils, and then settle in to a 20-30 minute routine to help them ready themselves for a good night’s sleep.
- Comfort is everything. Ensure that the room is at the correct temperature and that clothes and blankets don’t restrict your child’s movement so that your child is settled and relaxed.
- Having warm feet is well-known to be a natural sedative, and so make sure that putting on your baby’s booties, or your kids slipper-socks on along with their pyjamas in their pre-bedtime routine.
- Allowing your child to seep with a special toy or plaything can often help with getting them off to sleep. Cuddly toys or their own blankets can sooth and comfort your child once you leave the room.
- You should make sure that your children eat any large meals or snacks well before bedtime as it can otherwise make it hard for them to sleep afterwards.
- It may sound obvious, but however many times your kids might ask you, don’t let them drink any caffeinated drinks before they go to bed. The traditional mug of warm milk or a simple glass of water should help quench their thirst and sooth them ready for bed.
- Many parents find that gentle rocking is a good way to get the kids off to sleep. Whilst it is, you should be careful not to make a habit of it else they may then find it harder to get back to sleep without the motion of being rocked or be prone to wake up in the night.
- Get your child to lie flat and snuggled-up on their beds, read them a bedtime story or sing a few lullabies to help them drift off to sleep. The sound of a loving voice and setting their imaginations off is a great way to induce deep dreamy sleep.
- Whether it’s with babies or toddlers, if they cry or call out for you then always leave it a short while before going in to them. This will make them realise that they should be sleeping, and will also give them the chance to drift off in the meantime.
- Rubbing or patting a child on the back is a great way to get them off to sleep. But some children have particular ‘soft-spots’, and massaging their feet, elbows or the back of their necks often works wonders as well.
Try mixing a few of these techniques up a bit and eventually you and your child will find the best routine to help them get the right amount of sleep; allowing you to relax for a bit too!
This article is provided by SnuggNightwear, an online boutique specialising in girls and boys pyjamas and bedtime accessories.
