Life hacks to get the kids in bed on time (or even early)
TYPE ‘how to make my child sleep’ into Google and it’ll throw up 1,020,000,000 results.
It’s the question on every parent’s lips, but the answer isn’t a one-size-fits-all.
Here Annie Simpson, co-founder of , reveals the expert tips she gives parents who are at the end of their tether.
Plus, every sleep-deprived parent could use a pick-me-up, right?
We’ve also included some of the genius (and hilarious) solutions other desperate mums and dads came up with in their hour of need.
Be punctual with mealtimes
Eating at the right time of day can help to regulate our body clock and set us up for a great night’s sleep – particularly when those pesky clock changes come along.
“The key thing with older children is to make sure they eat at the right times as quickly as possible,” says Annie.
“If you’ve got slightly younger children, we say to parents in the lead-up to the clock change to adjust everything – their meals and their nap times – by 15 minutes each day so that on the day of the clock change, you’re where you should be.”
Some families love the idea of that plan, but if you do nothing but make sure they eat at the right times once the clocks have changed, their body clocks will adjust.
“Either way, you have a bit of disruption a few days before the clock change or a few days after the clock change.
“It’s just working out what feels more manageable for your family,” says Annie.
If all else fails, you could always follow in the footsteps of this crafty mum who sent her kids to grandma’s on the night of daylight saving time!
On Twitter said: "Daylight Savings parenting hack: send kids to sleep over at grandma's house. She thinks they're such a joy, let's see how she feels at 5am."
Change the clocks
One dad was so desperate for forty winks, he took time into his own hands.
He gave his kids a time they were allowed to get up, then put all their clocks back by an hour.
said on Twitter: "Weekend parenting hack 1) Tell your kids to stay in bed until a certain time 2) Set their clock back an hour 3) Enjoy an extra hour of sleep."
They won’t fall for that one again!
Turn off the night lights
Parents often introduce night lights into their children’s bedroom with the idea that they will help to soothe their child – but they can, in fact, make sleep even more elusive.
Annie says: “Blue, for example, is a terrible colour for a night light because it blocks our melatonin, our sleep hormone.
“Also nightlights can create shadows and shadows can scare children.
“So it’s about looking at the environment and aiming for mostly dark and calm.”
Get creative with a rubber glove
Your baby is finally asleep and you’re just lifting your hand off their belly to give yourself a pat on the back when, bam, they’re awake again.
Training your baby to sleep without becoming dependent on certain behaviours like touch or a rocking motion is key, but Australian mum Melissa Dykstra sent parents wild with her genius interim solution: A blown-up rubber glove on her baby Olivia's stomach.
“It gave me enough time for a shower and to finish my coffee while it was still hot,” Melissa told .
“She's going through her first 'leap' [in her mental development] so she's been extra clingy the last few days and makes it so hard to even go to the bathroom, so I thought I'd try it and I was surprised at how well it worked.”
Scrap white noise
White noise is often advised for improving children’s sleep, but if it’s too loud or used too often, it can have the opposite effect.
“There has actually been research to show white noise can disturb sleep,” explains Annie.
“If you imagine when you’re coming into your lighter sleep, almost a wakeful state, what you don’t want is your brain to kick in thinking, ‘what’s that noise?’
“Where I feel white noise can be useful is in the evenings when you’re cooking, emptying the dishwasher or chatting on the phone, just to give you that confidence.”
Using white noise can risk training your children to wake at the slightest sound, so Annie advises using it sparingly and only ever to help kids get to sleep initially – never through the night.
She adds: “If you are going to use it, I would make sure it’s far from the bed and not played very loudly.”
Turn sleep into a game
When one mum’s daughter was struggling to nod off, she had a lightbulb moment – and luckily thought to share it with us all.
She recently revealed in the parenting how she challenged her tot to close her eyes and lie completely still while she poked her every seven minutes to see if she can stay awake.
“5 minutes in and she's snoring away,” she wrote.
“I'm so darn proud of myself, I hope this game will help you tonight.”
Bath time
Baths help us to unwind after a long day, and the same goes for kids, too.
Annie says: “Bath time definitely helps because when you come out of the bath, it drops your body temperature by one degree which kick-starts your melatonin, your sleep hormone.”
Bring on those sweet Zzzzs!
Story time – but no encores
Story time is a comforting way to end the day, but parents will be familiar with the ‘one more, one more’ delaying tactic children often use.
Annie says: “In that situation, I would say to parents definitely give your child choices but lead the choice: ‘Would you like this story or this one?’
“Then warn them when it’s the last story.
“Give them a big kiss and cuddle good night and then stop engaging.”
If you respond to your child with calm shushing sounds every time they try to start a conversation, they will grow tired of it and go to sleep.
Try a gentle cheek stroke
So you’ve nailed the routine, created the perfect sleep environment, sung some lullabies and your baby’s still staring back at you, wide awake?
It could be time to take a leaf out of this dad’s book.
His cheek stroke sends his bub to the land of nod in a .
Pure magic.
Keep it calm and consistent
“The more unsettled sleep becomes, the more parents seek to look for a way to control the environment and that’s when they tend to block out every little bit of light and reduce all the noise,” says Annie.
“But actually, what it usually is is a sleep onset association – the child’s dependent on falling asleep a certain way, it’s not the environment.”
Young children come into a new sleep cycle every 45 minutes, which is how often they need to be resettled.
If they’re dependent on being rocked to sleep, or driven around in a car, that may be what they look for again and again in the night.
Annie says: “With older children it’s about being able to put a detective hat on and really look at what is happening at bedtime and keep it moving forwards, keep it calm and consistent.
“Children love consistency and if they don’t get it, they start to push back because they’re trying to work out where they stand.”
So whatever bedtime routine works for your family to quieten everything down at the end of the day, keep calm and carry on - you will see results.
Most read in Parenting
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