10 Tips To Help Your Children Sleep Through
When you’re a mama, you always know that you’re going to have to take on an awful lot. Because not only do you have yourself to sort out now, you also have this little love bug vying for your attention. And so, you often put a lot of your own needs aside to put your first child first. And then your second, and then you’re entire brood. Or, just the one, if that’s where you stop. But, suddenly, this little bundle of joy is all you care about. So you don’t mind that you sleep less or that you look like fetching or that you feel like death from time to time. Well, maybe you do, but you let it slide. Because every mama just wants their children to be happy, and life definitely changes to accommodate that.
However, there will always come a time where you say enough is enough. You need sleep, they need sleep, and there needs to be a little more order in the house. And this is where the routine comes in. You will want to make sure that you’re working on the right things to get your children to bed and to sleep through the night. Because you know if your kids are sleeping through, then you’re going to get to too. But, it can be a challenge. It won’t always be that easy and it certainly won’t (pardon the pun) happen overnight. However, to help you, here are ten tips to turn to.
1. Try To Work Out How Much They Need
Before you begin, you’ll want to recognize that this is something that is going to take a while. So be patient with it. It’s also a good idea to try and work out how much sleep they might need to get. Sure, there are guides online by age, but they are exactly that - guides. After monitoring their sleep a little, you should be able to figure out how long they naturally sleep and how many hours they need to feel refreshed and energized.
2. Establish A Bedtime Routine
Then, you need to work on a bedtime routine. And yes, hopefully, this is something that you already have. But you may want to tweak it or make it a little more regular. You may find that you need to try and move things around or introduce new things to get something that works perfectly. Maybe you want to try different bath times or use some of the points we’re going to go over now.
3. Engage With Them
Now, one thing that often works in your favor is to make sure that you’re really engaging with your children in the evenings. We’re going to talk later on the importance of being calm, but this is where it can start. If you’re working on your bond, taking things slow, really enjoying bath time together and connecting over a bedtime story, it will help them to get into sleep mode and hopefully sleep through.
4. Make Sure Their Room Is Sleep-Ready
The next thing that will be important is to ensure that their bedroom is perfect for sleep. Because they need to be in the right environment to get off to sleep properly. So, here, you may want to find the best children's mattress online and even a new bed. You will definitely want to ensure that the room is at the right temperature, and that light and sound is under control too.
5. Limit Screen Time
From here, you’re then going to want to focus on the evening leading up to bedtime. As screens are proven to keep our minds active, it may be important for you to limit their screen time right before bath time and bed, to make sure they start to get sleepy.
6. Keep Dinner Healthy & At A Good Time
When you’re thinking about dinner, it’s often a good idea to get the nutritional content right. Obviously, you won’t want them to have any caffeine, but also sugar should be limited. If you’re focusing on healthy recipes, this should be easy to accomplish. Also try to leave enough time between dinner and bed so that they can digest their food.
7. Make Sure They Work Out Their Energy
Now, if you find that your kids are full of energy in the evenings, they need to be more active in the day. Exercise is great for everyone’s health, but it can also save your sanity come bedtime if they are doing it in the day. So make sure that they are getting out and out as much as possible. For older children, joining clubs and teams will be great for this.
8. Enjoy Calm Evenings
Then, this is where you want to make your evenings as calm as possible. Remember, you don’t want them to be all wound up and excitable before bed. Instead, you’ll want to choose calming activities to do together on the run up to bedtime. Reading is always a great option, but puzzles or drawing could also be great for them.
9. Have Set Wake Up Times
You know that your kids need a set bedtime. That way their bodies will get tired when they know that bedtime is coming up. But, on the flipside of that, having a set wake up time will help them get into a healthy sleep routine too. So do what you can to make sure that they are waking at the same time every morning too.
10. Keep A Close Eye
But not only that, you may also want to make sure that you’re watching to make sure that there isn’t anything else going on. On rare occasions, you may actually find that your child has a sleep disorder. And it would be such a shame to be really working on getting them to sleep through when they actually need medical assistance. So, if you’re nailing all of the above and they still aren’t sleeping after a few weeks, think about speaking to your doctor.
Before you begin, you’ll want to recognize that this is something that is going to take a while. So be patient with it. It’s also a good idea to try and work out how much sleep they might need to get. Sure, there are guides online by age, but they are exactly that - guides. After monitoring their sleep a little, you should be able to figure out how long they naturally sleep and how many hours they need to feel refreshed and energized.
2. Establish A Bedtime Routine
Then, you need to work on a bedtime routine. And yes, hopefully, this is something that you already have. But you may want to tweak it or make it a little more regular. You may find that you need to try and move things around or introduce new things to get something that works perfectly. Maybe you want to try different bath times or use some of the points we’re going to go over now.
3. Engage With Them
Now, one thing that often works in your favor is to make sure that you’re really engaging with your children in the evenings. We’re going to talk later on the importance of being calm, but this is where it can start. If you’re working on your bond, taking things slow, really enjoying bath time together and connecting over a bedtime story, it will help them to get into sleep mode and hopefully sleep through.
4. Make Sure Their Room Is Sleep-Ready
The next thing that will be important is to ensure that their bedroom is perfect for sleep. Because they need to be in the right environment to get off to sleep properly. So, here, you may want to find the best children's mattress online and even a new bed. You will definitely want to ensure that the room is at the right temperature, and that light and sound is under control too.
5. Limit Screen Time
From here, you’re then going to want to focus on the evening leading up to bedtime. As screens are proven to keep our minds active, it may be important for you to limit their screen time right before bath time and bed, to make sure they start to get sleepy.
6. Keep Dinner Healthy & At A Good Time
When you’re thinking about dinner, it’s often a good idea to get the nutritional content right. Obviously, you won’t want them to have any caffeine, but also sugar should be limited. If you’re focusing on healthy recipes, this should be easy to accomplish. Also try to leave enough time between dinner and bed so that they can digest their food.
7. Make Sure They Work Out Their Energy
Now, if you find that your kids are full of energy in the evenings, they need to be more active in the day. Exercise is great for everyone’s health, but it can also save your sanity come bedtime if they are doing it in the day. So make sure that they are getting out and out as much as possible. For older children, joining clubs and teams will be great for this.
8. Enjoy Calm Evenings
Then, this is where you want to make your evenings as calm as possible. Remember, you don’t want them to be all wound up and excitable before bed. Instead, you’ll want to choose calming activities to do together on the run up to bedtime. Reading is always a great option, but puzzles or drawing could also be great for them.
9. Have Set Wake Up Times
You know that your kids need a set bedtime. That way their bodies will get tired when they know that bedtime is coming up. But, on the flipside of that, having a set wake up time will help them get into a healthy sleep routine too. So do what you can to make sure that they are waking at the same time every morning too.
10. Keep A Close Eye
But not only that, you may also want to make sure that you’re watching to make sure that there isn’t anything else going on. On rare occasions, you may actually find that your child has a sleep disorder. And it would be such a shame to be really working on getting them to sleep through when they actually need medical assistance. So, if you’re nailing all of the above and they still aren’t sleeping after a few weeks, think about speaking to your doctor.
