Our journey from sleepless nights to peaceful bedtime routines. Learn simple sleep tips, calming habits, and practical strategies that helped our family enjoy better rest and stress-free evenings.
It was not until that moment that we understood sleep in our family needed to be actively sought out – irrespective of the available “free” time. Of course, children have to be put to bed and all other activities associated with the process also need to be completed. To be sure, kids will be ready to sleep only when it gets dark outside. Such nights are usually the most tiring.
If I knew a few years ago that the daytime would come every day and I would feel the same joy and nostalgia at night, I would not have believed it. Many of us thought that sleeping was something that just comes and goes in its own sweet time. But we realized din the end that, that was not the case when we exchanged that joy and nostalgia for insomnia almost as if we was somehow missing it.
There was always a fight going on in the evening.
The kid would have a hard time going to sleep, would want you to read again one more story, would like a sip of water, or would ask to visit the restroom one more time – and that routine could involve a whole bunch of iterations. And there were times when, after hours of waiting, the child would fall asleep and yet this would not be the end of it. There would still be awakenings, turning in the bed, and rising in the sleepy morning.
It was in the early ages and all that’s supposed to come easy for the child would still require them to be urged and taught in practice – as there is no leisure here. Indeed, every child expects that whether daytime or night she will have to go to bed and every step during that process will be taken, sertanly. Without a queue of course, children will definitely fall asleep only when it is dark. And the love that has been experienced at night the most because of being such should be one that makes people look forward to the night only at that moment.
We promptly established a steady bedtime routine.
I just wished that everything would be same every day. Eating, taking a bath, putting on pajamas, then some stories until the zzz’s. When we first started this, it appeared it was doing no good at all, however, as time went by, after about two weeks, we could see a positive change as the child no longer fought off bedtime.
I will therefore take a break from the latest episodes on my phone or iPad before sleep.
I had everyday started last summer watching television or browsing on my tablet and then checked the phone following the same pattern. That was when I changed my mind on the issue of screen policy as I acted on the principle that they should at least be off an one hour prior to sleep. That time we topped up being productive such as flipping ages old and new colorful pages and chatting about what we all attended on that day.
Well, it wasn’t an outright cure, but it definitely helped me.
The fourth one that was quite helpful can be described as managing the setup of the bedroom. We switched off some bulbs, took out the clutter from the room, and made the place a little less unwelcoming. Tables wore comforters, nice toys, and kept a quiet environment they did that itself helped demonstrate it is time for bed.
We learned that sleep is not just about bedtime.
However it is important to note that daily activities played a considerable role as well. Almost every day, kids were left to indulge in a sea of physically strenuous activities and games outside with scheduled eatinng timings engineered to create the much needed pattern for resting. Also, it was noticed that on days were children’s energy was naturally expended, they went to bed much easier.
But naturally, there was more.
Certainly there would still be instances where the reported progress faced challenges. It could be the case of falling sick, too exciting, travel plans or a slight alteration of the schedule and the progress will be stopped. Nonetheless, the focus was not on such defeats but on the need for continuous application honed with tolerance.
But over time, things got more comfortable.
The nightmarish experiences the mother saw at the beginning of the phase were no more. The child started sleeping faster and sleeping continuously all through the night improved. Above all, the quality of rest within the entire family was enhanced and the scene of anxiety easing into slumber was suppressed.
But the most important part for me to adhere to was to realize that there was no one-size-fits-all solution to our problems. In a single word, the secret is plain – repetitive usage of new practices which on a daily basis accustoms human mind to a new habit.
In the present, retiring does not sound burdensome anymore.
Even though the journey is not always pleasant, it taught us so much through encouraging habit, patience, and creating conditions for healthy sleep. We are sure that a cure is possible if there are sleepless nights. Even if it is underestimated, many times it is the minor adjustments that changed everything at the end.
