Sleep, little one, on a velvet cloud,
As the floating stars sing a lullaby.
Drift away to the lands of dreams,
Where teddy bears dance in a rainbow sky!

Play, little one, on the golden stars,
As the mother-son keeps a watchful eye,
Listen as she recounts her tales
Of enchanted forests where children fly!

Dance, little one, in the whispering wind,
’til the moon and stars breathe a sleepy sigh.
Wrap your dreams in a paper moon,
And gently push them toward the sky!

Wake, little one, to the morning sun,
As it calls to the world that it’s time to rise.
Wave farewell to the land of dreams,
And gently open your sweet, little eyes!

Our overall development and performance depend on our lifestyle and habits, sleep being a critical aspect of it. It takes commitment and discipline throughout life to make sleep and health a priority. We must help children understand their body starting in their early years, and how sleep helps our body and mind to function.

Dream-Time Bedtime Routine:

Create a consistent bedtime (decide your pace) routine with three to five activities that enable your child to ‘get ready for bed’. Make sure this 45 mins long routine is a mix of things they can do independently (according to their age) and things they can do with you (that they like!). The routine must make them feel relaxed and ready to sleep peacefully.

You can transform the ‘bath and dental care’ into pretend play at the spa, where they bathe themselves and their toys, giving them special treatment. Name your storytime session together like ‘Night Night Reads’ or ‘Sleepy Story Time’ and engage in soothing conversations with your child as you lay in bed with them. As you stroke their heads or sing to them, it provides them with security in their existence and they are able to sleep and dream.

Make Sleep Time = Screen Free Time:

The blue light emitted from screens so close to our faces hinders the secretion of our sleep hormone, melatonin. The hormone of darkness is produced in our bodies only during the nights, allowing for healthy sleep-wake patterns. It is essential to shut screens an hour before real sleep time.

A good habit is to keep all devices on charge outside the room or be on Do Not Disturb (DND). Parents and family members are the most influential people, after the same rule will help your kids learn good habits. One way to keep kids occupied is to have a “special bag” of fun playthings. Swap out the iPad or phone with small cars, Lego people, stickers, colored paper, other fun games, or with their favorite toys.
Distract, distract, distract with play!

Catching A Few Zzz’s = It’s About The Timing:

Self-soothing is a critical part of sleep training. Parents often wonder how early should they start sleep training. An infant often displays self-soothing behaviors at 3 to 4 months of age. It is usually best to encourage self-soothing behaviors as early as 6 months so that infants can go back to sleep by themselves even if they wake up. Most infants can go up to 8 or more hours without needing to be fed once their needs are met, so it is the most ideal time to encourage sleep training. By the time they are 8 or 9 months, they begin to feel some separation anxiety, and it can be more difficult for them to learn how to deal with separation from their caregivers.

Early Bedtimes = Dare To Dream:

A big part of winding down is relaxing. We don’t get sleep with the strike of the clock, it doesn’t work like that with us, and it doesn’t work like that with our children. Setting a bedtime must include time for healthy sleep routine activities so that the nervous system can calm down from the intense activities and your child can get ready to sleep. Consistency is key!

Sleep Sanctuary or Cave or Castle:

Involve your child in creating their special sleep space. Restrict the bed area for sleeping and relaxation only. Create or use other spaces in the room or house to do other things like playing with blocks, eating, homework, and reflection. The human brain associates feelings with places and sites so if you do your work in bed, it becomes difficult to switch off from working as the sunsets. A comfortable, calm, dark, cool environment will allow your child to slumber in an optimally designed place to sleep. In this slightly cool environment, they are less likely to be triggered awake by noises, chills, or hot sweats.

Rise & Shine Vs Hide & Sleep:

Eating and exercising at appropriate times keep our 24-hour body clock in sync. It is essential that by sleep time our bodies are calm and relaxed. It is to maintain physical homeostasis that we must exercise before mealtimes and encourage our children (and ourselves) to go outside every day and take a walk, play with a friend, or complete our chores.
Schedule time for a place, sports, homework, and other things, and similarly schedule time for sleep.

Feed Away From Yourself & Sleep:

Move feeding time slightly apart from bedtime. If your baby keeps falling asleep while drinking milk from the bottle or the breast, it becomes difficult for them to learn to self-soothe or actually do it. Once your baby is full, take some time to rub their belly, sing to them, or pat them on their head as they soothe themselves to sleep. Always place them in them a crib or their bed to sleep, stay present close to them as they fall asleep, and you can give verbal assurances, songs, or an occasional back rub as they learn to self-soothe.

Sleep Tight & Don’t Let The Bed Bugs Bite = Good Sleep Hygiene:

Develop a good sleep routine and general behavior. Get up a regular times and model this for your children. To be able to achieve optimal sleep, it is important to have regular sleep and wake-up times. Even during weekends or vacations, try to limit excessive sleep-ins and extend that to an hour only to align with our sleep-wake times. It throws our body clock if we change our sleep-wake schedules too much. You must make your sleep a priority for kids to feel the same way!

When parents begin sleep training their children, or when children transition from a crib to a bed, sometimes they might display bedtime resistance. Behavioral sleep resistance might manifest in children in the form of refusal to get into bed, throw tantrums, or leave the bed frequently. The body of children does get tired, so they want to sleep and need help to settle their bodies or minds. Observe your child’s day and reboot their routine as you look for stressors. In case of nightmares or fear of the dark, use brave talk, creative games to break the fear association with darkness such as a flashlight treasure hunt, or a reward system using bedtime passes. Children need to be told the rules first and then they begin to make a habit out of them. Involve children in preparing their own creative sleep schedule with words and visual cues.

“Let her sleep, for when she wakes, she will shake the world”.
-Napoleon Bonaparte