Your Childrens Health

For many parents, their child’s bedtime is a dreaded event, complete with tears, yelling, and resistance.  It doesn’t have to be this way!  Too often, we give in because we think that by accomodating our children, we are improving the situation.  When it comes to forming good bedtime habits, it is important to be firm and consistent.

Now, there are really two separate camps in the bedtime arena: those who believe in letting your child cry themselves to sleep, and those who think that is cruel and unusual punishment.

I don’t personally agree with either approach.  I think that finding the best bedtime routine for you and your child really depends on the child.  It takes a lot of hard work and self examination to discover which of your techniques are working and which are counterproductive.  But a one-size-fits-all approach to children’s bedtime habits just doesn’t seem to make sense.

Use these tips as a guideline, but be flexible and work with your child to find a routine that works for both of you. 

• Set a regular bedtime and show your child how to tell it’s bedtime on the clock.
• Remind your child 30 minutes before bedtime that it’s time to start winding down.
• Provide your child with a nightlight if they request one.
• Remove all distractions from the room, ie: televisions, radios, video games.
• Form a routine that you will perform with your child each night: help them into their pyjamas, take them to brush their teeth, and tuck them in to bed.
• If your child gets out of bed, do not talk to them.  Getting upset at them is giving them attention, which may be enough of a reward to them to encourage the behavior.  Instead, return them to their bed immediately.
• Praise your child in the morning for staying in bed!

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This entry was posted on Thursday, May 18th, 2006 at 2:58 am and is filed under Sleep. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.