Tips For Helping Your Children Sleep Through the Night

Establish a Bedtime Routine

One of the ways that you can help your child fall asleep easier is to formulate a routine that you stick to every night. If your children are old enough, you can collaborate with them to find out what works best for their body, and will still allow them to get the quality sleep they need. You can create a chart or something to hang on their wall, so they can remember which steps to take before they go to bed. For example, you can include items like brushing hair and teeth, changing into pajamas, or having a bedtime story. The structure will help your children fall asleep more easily.

Try Natural Supplements

There are many natural ways that you can help your children sleep better, including taking supplements before bed that will release chemicals in their brains to signal to their body it is ready for sleep. One of the most well known and popular supplements is melatonin, the chemical that is in charge of inducing calmness and sleepiness. How does melatonin work? For maximum effect, have your children take the melatonin supplement an hour or two before you are planning to put them to bed, so that when they are settling in for the night, the effects of the melatonin will begin to work. Not only does melatonin help you to fall asleep, but it is beneficial to stay asleep throughout the night as well.

Set Boundaries

Although it may seem like a good idea to allow your children to stay up later on weekends, holidays, or school vacations, it can be detrimental to their sleep schedule. Children thrive on routine, and so disrupting that routine can have effects on their body and mind. You can remedy this by making a compromise. Let your children stay up a little bit later, but not enough so that they are majorly altering their normal sleep schedule. Be sure to let your children know that you are the one who dictates when they go to sleep, so that they do not think they can stay up as late as they want to.

Limit Sugar Intake

It has been shown time and time again that sugar before bed or too much in your children's diet in general can contribute to problems with sleep. Therefore, try to make sure that your child eating on the healthier side, and only allow sugar as a treat during the daytime hours, and not before bed. It may be difficult to avoid because of how much sugar is available within arm's reach, but making an effort to keep it out of your children's diet will ultimately benefit them in the long run.

Avoid Co-Sleeping

Co-sleeping has been controversial and hotly debated for several decades, but in general, it is not a good idea to sleep in the same bed as your child if you want them to sleep through the night. For instance, your children may come to rely on you in order to feel safe enough to go to bed on time, which can foster feelings of dependence and immaturity. If they absolutely cannot sleep without you, try leaving their bed at an earlier time every night, so they slowly grow used to not having you available at all hours.

It does not have to be a huge challenge to make sure that your children are getting the quality of sleep that they require. With these solutions, you are sure to be able to have a happy, healthy, and most importantly, well-rested child that gets good sleep every single night.