"My 4 and 6-year-old fell asleep in 9 minutes listening to the amazing SleepyLou"
(Facebook Review from happy a Mum!)
If you're a tired parent, then it might seem ridiculous that anyone would resist sleep. Sleep is amazing! Sleep is awesome. Tired kids aren't happy so why wont they just go to sleep??
There are lots of way to make bedtimes easier, aside from using my sleep stories. Kids' brains take a while to wind down for bed, and you can help by trying a few of these things, starting at dinner time:
- Dim the lights at dinner time, if possible (but not so dim that you end up wearing dinner!)
- If there is a shower or bath before bed, try to use dimmer lighting there are as well. A bath isn't nearly as relaxing with bright white lights!
- Turn on some slow music - just type 'mellow beats' or 'chillout music' into Youtube or Spotify.
- Have any stressful or school related conversations before dinner, not during or after.
- Have a screen curfew and switch to calmer activities like books, lego, puzzles, colouring in, easy crafts etc before bed.
- Let fidgety children have something to play with in bed - perhaps your parents or grandparents believed that toys in bed keep kids awake, and if they're electronic toys, that might be true. But some little hands need to keep busy while the brain unwinds, so letting them have something to fidget with in bed can be helpful. Without that, some kids will turn to nail biting, thumb sucking or hair pulling as their self soothing behaviour. I know my son falls asleep easier when he can colour in while listening to a sleep story. He usually puts the pens and paper down and turns off the light within 5 minutes of the story beginning, but it helps to wind him down.
Do you have any great suggestions to share? Let me know at sleepylou@awakenhypnosis.com