Best Way to Help Your Children Get to Sleep

Getting children to sleep comfortably and fearlessly through the night is a challenge most parents face at one time or another. Just wait though—teenagers usually sleep very well, and often late into the morning when you’d like them to be up and about

Determining Bedtime

• Try to keep the same bedtime every night to help establish regular sleep habits.
• Avoid bedtime confrontations by letting the hands of the cl< do the job, or use a timer to enforce bedtime. Give your child time to prepare by issuing advance warning. Leftover time can be added to the bedtime ritual as a reward for cooperation.

• Have a “Goodnight Parade” for two or more children. The family marches through the house stopping in the kitchen for water, the bathroom for toothbrushing and toileting, the living room for locking the front door, and so on. The “caboose” (youngest) gets dropped off first.
• Have your child put all toys and stuffed animals to bed, say­ing, “Good night” to them one by one; when they’re all down, your child can be the last one to go to bed.

Helping Children Get to Sleep

• Continue the sleep routine you started when your child was an infant. Or create a new routine. But do have a routine.
• Use the five- or ten-minute check for the child afraid to be left alone at night. After putting your child to bed, agree to come back every five or ten minutes until he’s asleep. Knowing a parent will be back helps a child relax. Or work or clean up in the next room so your child can hear you nearby.
• Feed your older child a protein snack before bedtime, if you offer a snack at all. (Milk is protein.)
• Have quiet time before bedtime. Rough-and-tumble play excites a child, making it hard to settle down to sleep.
• Put a few favorite dolls or stuffed animals in your child’s bed, and tell him the toys are ready to go to sleep.
• Let even a young child “read” himself to sleep with a pleasant book and maybe an accompanying audiotape.

• Don’t use a crib or bed as a place for punishment.
• Put soft stereo headphones on an older child, and let restful music induce sleep. Make sure the headphone wires are on top of your child’s head, not around his neck. Or set a clock radio that will turn off on its own.
• Give your child a relaxing massage.
• “Plant a garden” when giving your child a back rub. Use dif­ferent strokes for spading, raking, preparing the rows, and planting the seeds your child selects.
• Encourage your child to relax every muscle, starting with his toes and moving toward his head. Eyes should be kept closed.
• Put a dab of cologne on the back of your child’s hand. Sniff the scent until it’s gone. Or put a few drops of a relaxing essential oil (like lavender or chamomile) in a bowl of warm water in your child’s bedroom. Deep breathing and concentra­tion usually bring sleep quickly.
• Write an idea for a pleasant dream on a slip of paper, and place it in a Dream Jar (an empty can or bottle you’ve deco­rated). Have your child reach into the Dream Jar to find the paper. Read the dream idea together, and have your child go to sleep with the paper beneath his pillow.
• Help your child decide what to dream about (a favorite game, an upcoming event, a relative, and so on) as part of your bed­time routine.
• Take a long walk with your child in the evening, followed by a nice warm bath and some soothing music.

Bedtime Storytelling

• Relate a true event about your child or your family (the day ‘ you were born, what you did as a child, the day your child was born, and so on).
• Tell a story using one of your child’s favorite dolls as a hero.

• Tell a story in which your child fills in important details. For example, “You and I were ready to cross the street, and (your child fills in the blank).” Remember to keep stories short and the central character familiar, since children’s attention spans are limited.
• Tell a story in which your child is the hero (such as “Lady Dana and Sir Douglas”). Adapt common childhood stories, create new ones using your imagination, or replace names in picture books with your child’s name.
• Check out specially printed, personalized books that incorpo­rate important names from your child’s life (siblings, friends, pets, and so on).
• Use liquid paper to erase characters’ names in storybooks, and fill in your children’s names.