Bedtime Routine Tips: 7 Tips To Help Bedtime Go Smoothly
Bedtime can be a beautiful time. Or it can be one of the most hectic times of the day.
Hopefully, these bedtime routine tips will take you a few steps away from hectic.
When it comes to kids and sleep, the struggle is real.
Now, we may not be able to make bedtime go off without a hitch every night. But I can guarantee we can make it a little less painful.
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Here Are 7 Bedtime Routine Tips You Need To Try
1) Pick a Time
My daughter has been going to bed around 7:30 for as long as I can remember.
This time works out great for us. I was blessed with an early riser. How lucky am I?
Pick a time that works for your child and stick with it.
Check out this guide that shows how much sleep kids actually need. It goes from newborn all the way to young adults.
Kids need a lot of sleep. People sometimes look at me like I am crazy when I tell them what time my daughter goes to bed. But you know what? She is getting enough sleep. And this makes her a much more pleasant human to be around.
Tired kids are the worst.
2) Be Consistent
Kids like consistency. Even if they don’t tell us. They really do.
Once you pick a time, you need to try your hardest to be consistent. This is especially important when you are first developing your bedtime routine.
You want this routine to become a habit.
3) Make it Fun
At the end of the day, fun is not the first thing on my mind. I just want my daughter to go to bed ASAP. But I find that if I am letting my frustrations show, it just makes the process of getting her into bed longer and definitely not peaceful.
This does not have to be anything crazy. My daughter likes to jump on her bed a few times. She also likes to hide under the covers and have me find her.
Doing this is no problem at all for me. It makes her smile and laugh and go to bed in a happy mood.
You could even pick a song to sing together before bed. Or make up a bedtime dance.
There are so many very small ways to create a fun and positive atmosphere.
Check out these ways to be a fun mom all day long!
4) Let Them Choose
I like to ask my daughter if she wants to read 2 or 3 books. I let her choose a stuffed animal to sleep with. She picks out her own pajamas.
These are very simple things but they play a huge role in our bedtime routine.
Give your kiddos a few choices and I bet they will be much more willing to drift off to sleepy town.
5) Something to Look Forward to
We always take a few minutes and talk about our plans for the next day. Even if we have nothing big planned. We talk about a game we are going to play or a movie we are going to watch together.
On the weekends, we talk about what special breakfast we are going to have. During the week, she has yogurt and fruit pretty much every morning. So on the weekends, we change things up a bit. She usually goes with pancakes or waffles.
This is also a great chance for a few minutes of bonding time. I don’t know about you, but sometimes I feel like I talk at my child more than I talk with her.
6) Don’t Rush
It may take a little while to get into the groove of a bedtime routine.
But the best advice I can give is to not rush. This will result in frustrated kids and parents.
My daughter likes to take her time. So, I leave us quite a bit of time to get through our bedtime routine.
Take your time and I can almost guarantee things will be a lot easier.
7) Meditation
This is the one thing that has had the biggest impact on our bedtime routine.
I always knew about meditation, but I wasn’t actually doing it.
When my daughter was around 3 years old, we started putting on mediation for her every night. And it has been one of the best choices I have ever made.
It really helps her relax before falling asleep.
My daughter still gets very excited to choose her mediation. And doing this has stopped her from calling me back in the room 27 times (for the most part…there are still some nights that test me as a parent).
We also have this children’s alarm clock that teaches kids when it is time to go to bed and also when it is time to get up! Game changer for sure!
Every night is not perfect in my house. But some nights are pretty darn close. And that is all because of our bedtime routine.
Creating a routine that works may take a little time. But it will be well worth it.
It is one of the many ways I keep my sanity as a parent.
(starting this blog has helped my sanity so much too because I get to use my brain)
There is nothing wrong with looking forward to bedtime.
And we all know that a smooth night has a lot to do with having a much better morning.
Have any bedtime routine tips you swear by? Drop a comment!
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These are all such great ideas! Bedtime has been much easier for us since we implemented a consistent routine. Recently discovered a podcast called “be calm on ahway island” that includes built in mediation and relaxation and then a story. They are great.
I will have to check that podcast out! It sounds amazing. And a consistent routine definitely makes things SO MUCH better! Thanks for stopping by.