As a mother, getting your toddler to bed can be the most tiring task. They whine, try causing delays by making unnecessary trips to the bathroom and will do absolutely anything to avoid going to bed. If you’re finding it impossible to get your child into a good routine, this means that your strategy is ineffective and you probably should be looking for alternatives. To begin with take note of your child’s sleep environment. It has been noticed that your physical environment has significant amount of influence on your mind and body in the night.
Following are some tips to keep surroundings good and let your kid enjoy sound sleep:
Sleep Audit
It is important to track your kid’s sleeping time in the entire day. This is very much essential if you note that your toddler is facing problem in going to bed. You can use traditional old or modern tricks to trace timings, it completely depends on you. Before, you carry out this analysis, search about ideal time a toddler should sleep. The main reason is it varies according to kid’s routine as some have more physical activities than mental exercises and vice-versa. This way you will not take your kid an hour early to bed instead just in right time so that they easily fall asleep.
Find the right temperature
First-time parents are worried about setting the right temperature in the room for your kid. A designer radiator is a trust-worthy source which can generate sufficient amount of warmth depending upon the outside weather. It is believed that kid’s room must have a static temperature. There are companies which offer models that offer warmth according to the weather outside your home. This creates a perfect balance between outside weather and in your room. This way, your kid enjoys a perfect temperature to sleep in.
De-clutter for better sleep
It is important to keep your child’s room organised and clean. A room free from clutter offers you a peaceful surrounding as you do not think about the pending tasks. Your mind and body can completely relax and sleep. Your child enjoys soothing effect in a clean space along with a sound sleep. Most kids like playing with their toys and other belongings. As parents, it is important to instil a habit in them to keep back their belongings at their spot. This habit will make them more responsible and value them. Plus, your kid sleeps in a clean, de-cluttered room and enjoys more free space.
Sleep in the dark
Children prefer to have some amount of light through bedside lamp, overhead light, etc. You can allow light to a minimal amount because they do not harm sleep. However, excessive amount of light can be a hurdle and disturb sound sleep of your kid. Although, as a parent you may hesitate to leave your kid in almost complete darkness but it is a good trick to provide them a good night sleep. As per science, the pineal gland which is a part of your brain releases a hormone called melatonin. This hormone regulates sleepiness in your body. This is one key reason why parents should giving electronic devices probably 1 hour before actual sleeping time. Besides, there is high possibility that what they visualise has a significant impact on their dreams and thoughts. Additionally, the screen light is not healthy as they release melatonin. Therefore, sleeping in dark is an ideal choice.
Being Calm and relax
The chore of going to bed should be a peaceful exercise for your children. One way to do so is associate positive attributes with sleep/ bedtime routine. For instance, if your child likes listening to stories read them a bedtime story. Often, it has been observed that parents regard sleep as a punishment for bad behaviour. This results in disliking towards sleeping among children as they consider it a punishment even in the long run. This is why children avoid going to sleep as they think it is because of some misbehaviour. You can build a routine which relaxes your kid’s mind and body. For example, you can listen to songs, poems, etc. You can also ask your kid to share how their day, what did they like doing and what was not. This way, you will understand your kid better and how they react to varied situations.
If you notice that your kid is heading in the wrong direction then you can explain them and guide in the right path. There are several relaxation exercises which you can do along with your toddler. This can calm you both and you can enjoy peaceful sleep.
Moreover, right amount of sleep has various positive effects on body and mind. Some of them are discussed here:
- Sleep affects heart - Children with improper sleep tend to experience brain arousal. This, over a period of time results in high blood sugar and increases chances of diabetes, obesity, etc.
- Build immune system - When humans sleep, our body are body produces proteins called as cytokines which are used by body to fight with infection, stress, illness, etc.
- Sleeps affects growth - Sometimes, you feel that your kid has grown overnight but it is not a miracle pure science. Growth hormones tend to work actively while you are asleep. It has been observed that kids who lack proper sleep have improper growth.
- Lack of attention span - If your kid sleeps for only few hours, they will remain exhausted all-day long. This leads them to be impulsive and distracted for rest of the day. It is advised that kids below the age of 3 should at least sleep for 10 hours.
Lastly, your mind and body needs adequate rest before you start a new day. This rest rejuvenates kids and fills them with new energy for the next day. Thus, a sound sleep is very much important for your toddler.
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