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How to Help Kids Sleep at Night

By Martha Sanders

All parents will know how tough it can be to get children to go to bed on time, especially if you have young kids brimming with seemingly endless energy at night. However, getting kids to sleep early is not that difficult since good sleep habits can be taught by establishing good bedtime routines.

Having a bedtime routine gives your children an expectation of what comes next and gets them ready for bed so they will drift off to sleep easier. It may not solve all your bedtime problems, but it will go a long way to laying the right foundation for sleep.

Different families may have differing ideas on how to get kids sleep at night, but this is what works for most.

How Can I Make My Kids Sleep?

1. The first thing you have to do is make sure that your children are really sleepy at their bedtime. If you have set the right time when they should go to bed (say between 8-9 p.m.), your little ones should be tired by bedtime. But remember to take afternoon naps into consideration when calculating how early or late your kids will be going to bed.

If your children don’t feel sleepy at all, try increasing their physically active levels by letting them play a couple of hours before bedtime. For example, in warm summer months, it can be outdoors on a playground or a nearby park.

Winter or rainy days can make outdoor play impossible, but there are still some things your children can do, such as jumping on a small indoor trampoline. Hide and seek, tag and chase, wrestling and tussling, dancing and free-for-all roughhouse play are also great. It doesn’t matter what your children do, the whole idea is to make them really tired and get them ready for bed.

2. You can also offer your child a bedtime snack, an hour before bedtime. A cheese stick, or a small glass of milk and a slice of whole grain bread, or a handful of crackers is all it takes.

Having a light snack in his stomach before going to bed will help your little one feel more comfortable and sleep soundly. Additionally, a bedtime snack will tide him over until breakfast.

3. Another thing you can do to help kids sleep at night is to make them take a bath. Taking a soothing warm bath in the evening can help a child wind down and prepare him for a good night’s sleep.

If your children tend to turn bath time into more rowdy time, try to schedule bath time before snack time.

4. The last and most important aspect in a bedtime routine is to allocate some quiet time just before bed. It should not be a time for television, which can be too stimulating for a child. If you must have TV in the evening, make sure to stay way from violence or other exciting elements in the program.

My suggestion is spend about 15 minutes of quiet time reading a book to your kids. Some kids may need an hour's worth of quiet time to be ready for sleep. What works for me is, a younger sibling can have some quiet time with one parent first and be put to bed while older siblings play quietly in another room. Then, it's the next oldest sibling's turn. In that way, each kid gets some one-on-one time with a parent just before sleep.

With these simple tips in mind, you can help young kids establish a healthy bedtime routine and get a good night's sleep yourself.

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