Tips to encourage healthy sleep routine for kids
Sleep routine is as important as the daily activity routine for a kid’s growth. We all experience what lack of sleep hours brings in our lives; lots of stress. But the problem doesn’t only stand for adults, kids suffer from such problems and they can be a victim of stress too. Kids don’t understand the importance of sleep routines but the parents are responsible for bringing in such things to allow children to grow and develop to their potential. A healthy routine includes everything from pre-bedtime to activities after waking up. Everything needs balance to give your child decent sleep and fresh mornings. From the diet your child intake before sleep to the environment of the bedroom, everything has its role in the sleeping routine. There can be days where your child would fall asleep as soon as he/she lays down on the bed, and there would be days when it would take hours to be stable and sleep. Parents need to avoid both situations and prepare a routine that turns into a habit for the kid. Preschools advocate that kids who sleep well have better chances of being attentive and grasping things quickly. Even such schools can help you in preparing a balanced sleep routine chart for your kids.
Here are a few tips that can work well for creating a healthy sleep routine for children
Try to fix the sleep and wake up timings
The basic thing of creating a routine is setting up rigid timings. However, when it is about your sleep time, remember your kid sleeps to relax, not to carry a burden on the head. Timings should be relaxed for up to one to two hours, but there should be a limit on sleeping and waking up timings. The timings would turn into a habit if your kid would follow it regularly. Eventually, you would not have to urge your kid to sleep, he/she would be sleepy as per the timings as soon as it becomes a habit. The body of the child clocks at the right moment and the kid would wake up at the same time regularly. It would also help you prepare the kid for school adequately. Preschools also help children in forming habits by such repetitions of activity.
Let them relax before going to bed
After a busy day, anyone would get tired. Lids are gentle and need more attention. Never rush them to sleep as they would get stressed about it and might not feel sleepy the whole day. Prepare your routine in a way that the kid has some time to relax after dinner and before going to sleep. The time in between could be utilized with a walk, a conversation about the day, or a moral-based storytelling session. When you switch the lights off immediately after dinner, it turns negative for the child as he/she is not getting the time that is deserved. Play Schools encourage kids to spend time with their family and the parents should cooperate in building up the growth.
Create a safe and sound environment
You are relaxed when you feel secure and that is the best place to be sleepy. A place that threatens kids or doesn’t have the kinds of equipment that are loved by them, would never allow them to be relaxed and go easy. Try to sleep with your kids, if you can’t do that create a room that is full of things which are close to them, like thor toys. Avoid scary shoes and shady lighting at night time. The more they will be comfortable, the better they will sleep. Also, the environment shouldn’t be noisy and kids are more conscious than adults and catch everything easily. Even the nap time at preschools offers such things to the kids, you being a parent can move a step ahead.
Make them Eat the right amount
The meal before sleep should be proper and limited. The heavy stuff should be given in the afternoon. Also, there should be a proper gap between dinner and sleep timings. Avoid caffeine during the night as it opposes sleep and boosts the energetic cells within the kid.