The Wonderful World Of Sleep


It’s funny how one of the most important jobs of parenting is the ability for the entire family to be tucked away and not talking to one another. However, this is an absolute necessity. You’ll spend roughly a third of your life asleep, which is bad news for some of you incredibly active people, and good news for those who adore tucking in and snoozing away late at night.

However, just because someone is asleep does not mean they aren’t active, or functioning in some way. In fact, sleep has many incredible benefits, emphasized by how little we can function without it. In order to emphasize this wonder to your children, and to reinforce great sleeping habits, you might consider the following:


Show Them Their Morning Mood

Most children are bundles of energy in the morning, likely jumping on you at 5.30am, waking you from that dream of rivers of ice cream and kittens. No matter how troubling this might be for the first ten minutes of your day, it can be a good way of showing them how happy they might feel in the morning. If they go to bed troubled, or anxious, or energetic, or in a bad mood, remind them of how fun-loving and refreshed they feel in the morning. Tell them this is something to look forward to the moment they wake up. Emphasize just how spectacular this can be. It might mean you have to falsify some excitement in the morning despite your tiredness, but this can help a child begin to associate bedtime with ‘refreshment time,’ instead of a chore they must undertake to keep Mom happy.

Celebration

Sleep is there to be celebrated and loved. It should never foster feelings of hardship or hatred in your children. The best sleep practices will, of course, emanate from a healthy perspective of it. This means you need to celebrate the art of getting to sleep. If you have the time, spend some time with your children reading them a story, getting involved and cuddling up to them afterwards. Relax them, maybe even with gentle music. This makes the art of getting to sleep more value time between you and child, and can help you relax and settle yourself from a long day of parenting.

Regularity

The regularity of sleeping schedules can be one of the most important things to keep in mind. Children do have a circadian rhythm, but their energetic nature can, of course, lead them to desire staying up late. Do not allow them to do this. Even one late night can have a knock-on effect, especially during the early developmental years. For this reason, stick to a consistent bedtime and wake time. You should also follow this formula, although you will obviously need less sleep. To do so makes bedtime not only a regular habit, but something a child can fall back on with comfort, feeling tired in both body and mind, and with the gentle nudge from a parent.

With these simple efforts, a child will truly begin to understand the wonderful world of sleep.
teacher t shirt