Bedtime routine changes turned stressful nights into calm, peaceful evenings with better sleep, less chaos, and a more relaxing family atmosphere.
At some point, bedtime in our home became a ground for refusing to sleep. Every day you could expect fights, cries, playing around with no desire to sleep as well as giving up.
But on the contrary, instead of being restful, Nights became burdensome for all of us.
After dinner, the time spent on washing dishes and the kitchen cleaning section would appear to be busy as the appositive to silence. It was a constant cycle of going back and forth to one refrigerator- to take the baby cap, to take out the baby bottle that was to be diagonally from the baby cap, then to store that baby cap before moving to the next refrigerator to look for the other items one should take before going to bed.
Whenever my boring dinner lecture ended and probably before I faced the living room with my family, that was my dread. A child would want water three times in less than five minutes, another remembered that was revenge time with them which could not be postponed at any cost, and someone would ask if they were going to sleep without having watched more ‘Didi and Friends’ episodes. All in all, by the time people slept naturally (without assistance from the snake), I was pooped.
Quite remarkable things started happening, however, as we stopped imposing bedtimes and chose to britualize them instead. All the same, the improvements, though making small tweaks-far exceeded our expectations.
The very first thing we modified was the time spent in front of the screens. Usually, the cinema flickered until the lights were switched off, and there stack of phones and tablets. Such environment was wickedly overstimulating and the kids behaved like their heads and thoughts had a speed limit of 1000 miles per hour but only after dark. As a result, we started shutting down everything at least an hour before bedtime.
At the beginning, everyone was particularly against it.
There were issues, bore, and even back and forth. However, in a few days, we could already feel the peace in the evenings returned. And even without all the fancy gadgets and the high volume, most people naturally calmed down.
After this, what followed was a simple bedtime schedule. Nothing elaborate. Just the same steps every evening — supper, bath, jammies, brushing of teeth, soft lights switching off, and a short story’. The monotony that was brought out of this, on the other hand, assisted the kids more and they stopped expecting another night without any nap.
Comforting them made the difference.
We also stopped rushing during bedtime. Previously, i would call it a day just for the sake of so much ado and a very detailed evening’s program and “All right, let’s get ready to go to sleep!” the next minute. But as goes without saying, it was quite a needless hassle for them. Therefore, the change was linear such as the calmest energy of the day wind the day up.
I also was amazed at how much soft lighting had a relaxing effect. It is pretty clear that having white luminance makes everyone feel alert and awakened. Therefore, changing to the warm dimming effect post-sunset and during the evening made the group of all everyone more at home.
This included a major element of change around the elimination of late night sugar. A sugar rush from munching on too many desserts after the meal made sleeping completely impossible. Raising fewer dishes with light supper and snacks with sugar in moderation helped tame the situation.
This experience taught me that children understand that adults also suffer movies. In the event that I was upset, felt anger, or expressed impatience, going to sleep was endless. When I let my feelings free by keeping a nice and calm tone and limiting movements, the dynamics shifted entirely. Kids process emotions much faster than we give them credit for.
In addition, we also opted to go for some quiet tasks when it is time to sleep rather than the usual fun play. For example coloring, reading books, listening to soft music, taking puzzles or simple chatting with family worked better than engaging in rough play or paying loud games.
To be frank, it was about the same thing: the routine had to be followed all the time without any excuse. The calm bedtime schedule was not effective in the first few days. Indeed, the situation was still apt to resort to some problems in certain nights. However, the situation gradually turned the other way round after few weeks.
Now it is quite a different story at our place when it comes to bedtime.
The children are in a position to predict what takes place and there is a lot less yelling, fewer arguments with more tranquillity prevailing. What is more, some of the evenings are even enjoyable rather than tense. We seize the chance of exchanging more authority for warm hugs, whispered words, and moments of silence in all that tumult.
It is but a matter of general than all that every family can experience such peace every single night. Especially as there are still episodes of thrown peasant., without carrying behind them even one unsuccessful uneasiness. To conclude, it is true that they don’t have to fight time after time in order to put the children to bed.
Sometimes the minor routines have the most significant impact. A little quiet, regularity, tolerance, smiles, and a conversation often carry us through feeling irritable to our beloved ones in the same evening.
