How to restore bedtime routines after school holidays

Dave Gibson, the founder of “The Sleep Site” brings us 5 simple steps on how to help get the kids back in their usual sleep routine after the disruption of the school holidays.

Dave is a sleep expert and has worked in north London as a Hypnotherapist, Naturopath and Osteopath for over 15 years providing naturopathic advice across a wide range of conditions to promote good sleep patterns and quality sleep.

With the start of the school term upon us, many of us will have some New Year resolutions in mind with regards to improving health and general well-being.  Along with good food and exercise, a good night’s sleep is now regarded as one of the pillars for children’s health. Here are some simple tips to make things more manageable and to set your child up with a good sleep routine for 2018.

 

1) Establish a good sleep routine.
Have a wind-down routine, which starts about an hour before bed. Computer games, devices and homework should all be stopped an hour before bedtime. A bath, brushing teeth (without a bright bathroom light on) and a bedtime story could be used for younger school kids. Packing books, laying out school uniform for the next day, all form part of a good sleep habit. If you do the same thing each night before bed, the routine will start becoming a cue to the brain that it’s almost time for sleep.

 

2) Reclaim your evening. 

Try using audiobooks to help them go to sleep. I have recently come across a new App called Moshi Twilight which if you need a little helping hand, could help as part of a good sleep routine. The App cleverly combines sleep stories with relaxing music and soundscapes which helps your child to drift off quickly. It cleverly does this as the pace of the stories and audio gradually slows down in rhythm to naturally induce sleep. Using Moshi Twilight stories (there are tonnes to download) also saves you from waiting in, or near the bedroom and gives you precious me time back. Once your child is tucked up in bed, you simply turn down the lights, hit the play button, give your child their goodnight kiss and quietly leave the room.

Alternatively, try out an audble.com subscription from Amazon. Family & Parenting magazine recommends it, especially if you have multiple Kindle Fires as you can purchase one audiobook and play it out on multiple devices – one for each child’s bedroom! Books such as David Walliams: Bad Dad has proved very popular!


 

3) Set a good example with use of technology.  
Young children always learn by copying what they see and hear around them. I always recommend that if you want your child to adopt good habits – if you have them, they will pick them up too. If you have a break from technology before bedtime it sets the tone. All technology that emits blue light from the screens (the light that wakes us up in the morning) should be stopped at least 60-minutes before bed. Ideally, night-time modes and screen dimmers should be used throughout the evening. Therefore if you do use sleep apps or story apps, then make sure its done subtely and your children aren’t having their attention levels spiked by the app or phone in the room.

 

4) Keep the same routine 7 days a week.

Our brains and body clock like a consistent sleep routine which means you should ideally maintain this pattern 7 days a week. Try to set that example by getting up at the same time on Saturday and Sunday too. If your child has a 7 day a week consistent sleep schedule, they will find it easier to get to sleep on school nights and therefore wake up refreshed.

 

5) Establish good habits for all the family.

Setting an example could also extend to exercising together, which helps us all to sleep better. Getting your children to exercise more in the day will reduce the time it takes for them to get to sleep and will increase the total time they sleep. Make sure all exercise is finished around two hours before bed, to allow time to settle down. Establish healthy boundaries around caffeinated drinks for the whole family. Caffeine should always be stopped at lunchtime which includes energy drinks, caffeinated sodas, energy drinks, tea, coffee and dark chocolate. This goes for sugary foods and drinks too. If the whole family observe these rules the whole family will sleep better.

There is more advice and tips on how to improve the quality of sleep for the whole family on Dave’s sleep blog www.thesleepsite.co.uk.