Posted on 11/11/2016
Part of encouraging healthy sleep for your kids includes incorporating bedtime rituals. While what you include in those rituals isn’t nearly as important as their presence and regularity, we thought we’d share some definite favorites.
Time To Tidy Up
Visual clutter can be counter-productive to restfulness; of course, toys strewn across the floor can also provide safety hazards for sleepy feet trying to make their way to the bathroom in the dark. For those reasons, making sure to tidy up your child’s room before bedtime is an important part of the ready-for-bed ritual. Included in this step, you may want to set out clothes for the next day. It’s best if you include this step prior to bath time, so the calming sensation of bath time continues when your child re-enters his or her bedroom.
Bath Time Basics
Both water and warmth are helpful in encouraging restfulness, so it makes sense that many parents like to give their little ones baths before bedtime each evening. To increase the benefits of bath time, you may want to consider adding a soothing soundtrack to the event or using bubbles or aromatherapy along with bath time. From adding Epsom salt to the bath water or using lavender lotion to essential oils after the bath, many commercially produced products can help you do just that.
Bedtime Blessings
As you put away the remains of the day, you can also include a time of rehearsing the good and bad parts of the day, giving you an opportunity to provide condolences, as needed, and encourage a focus on the positive. Whether you’re into saying prayers or not, you can do something to symbolize the act of saying good-bye to the day’s troubles as you tuck your kiddos into bed. Some parents also like the idea of giving their kids a “bedtime blessing,” as Sally Clarkston describes in the book The Lifegiving Home: “No matter what has transpired throughout the day, we can close it by speaking to our children’s hearts with something like ‘I love you no matter what. . . .’ or . . .’You are very precious to me. I am blessed to have you. . . . Sleep in peace, my precious.’”
Story Time
Who doesn’t love a good story? Just 6 minutes of reading can make a big difference. According to research at the University of Sussex, “the kind of relaxed disengagement that reading creates can become the perfect environment for helping you sleep.” For young children, short picture books with rhythm and repetition such as Goodnight Moon, are classic favorites, but newer books can help your child create new memories. Older children may be allowed to read on their own for 15-30 minutes. Beds like our Bailey Reading Bed include built-in lighting ideal for independent readers, when it’s time to close the book and say one last “Good night.”
Read the Entire Calm Kids Series:
- Calm Kids, Part 1: Why Kids Can't Always "Calm Down"
- Calm Kids, Part 2: Sensational Calming Rituals for Kids
- Calm Kids, Part 3: Calming Bedtime Rituals for Your Child
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