One of the most difficult tasks parents face is that of establishing a bedtime routine for their child.
Bedtime routines are important because they promote healthy sleep habits, which contribute to your child's social, emotional and mental development and well-being.
While parents often focus on bedtime as being a single activity ("it's time to go to bed at 8 o'clock"), it is important to think of bedtime as the result of a series of steps that lead up to bedtime.
A child's bedtime routine actually begins with dinner, after which a consistent routine should be followed.
When you build a consistent bedtime routine, your child will anticipate and prepare for the end of the day as they progress through the same steps (bath, brush teeth, read stories) each day.
If your child has trouble winding down at the end of the day, here are some things that will help:
- Make sure your child has time to play during the day.
- Limit the amount of time that your child spends watching TV.
- Eat dinner at or close to the same time every night, allowing your child to have the same amount of time to wind down every night.
- Take the opportunity to spend quality time with your child by reading books and talking about the day's activities.