Sleep is beneficial for your child’s health. It helps them recharge, repair tissues, encourage growth, and allow them to concentrate better at school. However, some children find it hard to sleep soundly at night.
There are many reasons why kids find it hard to get a good night’s rest. Though it’s believed that kids find it easier to get a good night’s rest when they’re tired, this isn’t always true. However, when they’re incredibly exhausted, it’s harder to calm down their overly stimulated minds and bodies. This might be a contributing factor for kids who have a hard time sleeping at night.
You might also need to have your child checked for sleeping disorders. If your child is frequently sleepwalking, has sleep terrors, or you find them twitching in sleep, it’s best to consult a health professional in these cases. You can talk to a pediatrician who may refer your child to a sleeping consultant to help with this issue.
So, if you’re a parent and you have kids with sleeping difficulties, this can be challenging. Fortunately, you can apply some tips to address this issue. One example is to give them a toddler sleeping bag to make them comfortable at night.
Aside from that, you can make use of the following tips:
Pretend to go along with their bedtime routine
Establishing a bedtime routine for your children is crucial. A routine will put more structure to your child’s day, especially at night when it’s time for them to rest. Just like adults, children need to have routines that they can follow to encourage healthy habits and practices.
Having a bedtime routine can also help your children calm down and prepare for a good night’s rest. Below are some activities that you can incorporate into your child’s bedtime routine:
- Prepare a warm cup of milk
- Let them change into their pajamas
- Have them brush their teeth before going to the bedroom
- Tell bedtime stories
- Say goodnight to them
If you wish to be sneakier, just pretend to go along with the routine at first. Basically, you should also be doing everything they are supposed to do—drink milk, change to sleeping clothes, brush your teeth, and pretend to go to sleep after telling stories. Remember, kids like to imitate their parents and if they see you doing all those things before ‘going to bed,’ then they will copy the behaviour too.
Put chamomile tea in your child’s milk
Drinking Chamomile tea has many benefits. Typically, it is used for its calming and relaxing properties. Hence, it may aid with sleep. Check with your family doctor and if they agree consider using Chamomile to help with sleep. Adding a bit of Chamomile tea to your child’s milk is a great but sneaky way to get them to sleep faster. They might detect the taste of the tea, so make sure to put in just small amounts.
Create a sleep-conducive atmosphere in their bedroom
The kids bedroom must be an inviting place to rest and sleep. Children can certainly sleep faster when they feel safe and comfortable in their own room. Aside from that, most children are afraid of the dark, making them anxious at night. As such, they’ll have difficulty sleeping.
So, instead of leaving them in complete darkness, buy a night light or lava lamp that can be a source of soft light in their bedroom. A night light is a subtler way to introduce bedtime as compared to turning off all the lights completely.
Aside from that, you can also add a diffuser to your child’s bedroom. You can use that to diffuse calming scents such as Lavender and Chamomile. The soft aroma can create a more relaxing vibe that makes the children’s bedroom more conducive for sleeping. You can even allow your kids to pick the scent and turn on the diffuser by themselves. Eventually, it can be a fun addition to their bedtime routine.
Wrapping up
Sleep is beneficial for your child’s health. It boosts their academic performance, reduces stress and anxiety, and stimulates growth. Unfortunately, many children find it difficult to sleep. If your child is one of those, know there are a variety of solutions to put your child to sleep faster.
Some solutions are straightforward since some kids tend to be more independent. But if such straightforward solutions won’t work for your child, you have to be sneakier in terms of techniques. For one, you can establish a routine and act as if it is your routine too so they would be encouraged to follow it. Second, you can add a bit of Chamomile tea to their milk and create a conducive bedroom by adding a night light and diffusing calming scents.
