How to avoid bedtime battles
The fact is - most parents, if not all, face the bedtime battles with their kids.
The good news is that if your kids don’t want to go to bed – its because they like their life too much. There are also sorts of interesting things that are happening or might happen when I am awake, (not the least of which might be just spending some more time with you) and none when I am asleep.
Why would I want to go to bed?
So either you make it so nothing good ever happens in your household ever happens after 7pm ( not a great plan) or you can follow some steps that should make the process a whole lot easier.
Routine, Routine, Routine
If we have a process of things we do to go to bed (a wash, pyjamas on, clean the teeth, storytime ) as soon as we start that process, our sleep hormones start to be released. This effect is magnified if we can have the same bed time every day (including weekends). Not that you can’t have a later night every now and again, but the more regular our bedtime is, the more our bodies start to prepare for sleep as that time approaches.
YOU time
Your young child will think that time with you is just the best (it is normal that this may become much less so as they enter adolescence). Making spending time with you part of the pre-bed routine will give your child a reason to look forward to that part of the day. It is great if this time includes story time (so good for their development) but can also include chat time or any other quiet activity that you share together (obviously your families version of Wrestlemania is not going to help them settle).
Warm stuff
Warm baths, showers and drinks have a calming effect on our nervous system so anything along these lines helps.
No screen time = No scream time
Using technology phones, ipads, electronic games etc stimulates parts of the brain that we want to settle in order to be able to sleep. Many researchers recommend not using that technology within an hour of bedtime if not 2 hours. This is not a bad thing as our children tend to spend far more time using such things than is good for them. On that note it is important that we limit their access to things that they may find stimulating (including TV) while they are meant to be sleeping. If it’s in their room, they will be tempted (wouldn’t you be).
Start early
Getting children into good sleeping habits is way easier at 4 than 14. They may sleep fine as a 4 year old and you may think, we don’t need all these measures, but if you wait until you do have a problem, the horse may have bolted and be very, very difficult to contain then.
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