What is your advice for sleeping? Our son wakes up during the night and gets up early.
Answer:
Thank you for your question! Here are a few tips that I like to share with family members of kids with sleep issues:
1. Try putting him to bed a little later, especially if he does not seem tired at bedtime. I recommend starting with 15 minutes later and seeing how that effects the night wakings and early wake-ups. If you don't see a difference try 20-30 minutes later than usual.
2. Make sure you are tiring him out before bed! Depending on his age, find an appropriate exercise activity that he can do 1-2 hours before bed. It could be as simple as playing outside, going to the park, going for a walk after dinner, riding his bike, jumping on a trampoline, yoga, etc. Active kids are tired kids. Make sure every day before bed he is doing something active so he is nice and tired at bedtime.
3. End screen time one hour before bed. Studies show that the lighting on screens are equal to sunlight and prevent children (and adults) from getting tired.
4. Make sure you have a relaxing bedtime routine that is the same every night. After "exercise time" the bedtime routine can begin. I like to dim the lights and do calm activities. Put on pajamas, brush teeth, do a puzzle, read a book together, etc.
5. How old is he? And what does he do when he wakes up in the middle of the night? Let me know in the follow up comments and depending on your answers I will have one more tip for you! 🙂
Thank you for your question! Here are a few tips that I like to share with family members of kids with sleep issues:
1. Try putting him to bed a little later, especially if he does not seem tired at bedtime. I recommend starting with 15 minutes later and seeing how that effects the night wakings and early wake-ups. If you don’t see a difference try 20-30 minutes later than usual.
2. Make sure you are tiring him out before bed! Depending on his age, find an appropriate exercise activity that he can do 1-2 hours before bed. It could be as simple as playing outside, going to the park, going for a walk after dinner, riding his bike, jumping on a trampoline, yoga, etc. Active kids are tired kids. Make sure every day before bed he is doing something active so he is nice and tired at bedtime.
3. End screen time one hour before bed. Studies show that the lighting on screens are equal to sunlight and prevent children (and adults) from getting tired.
4. Make sure you have a relaxing bedtime routine that is the same every night. After “exercise time” the bedtime routine can begin. I like to dim the lights and do calm activities. Put on pajamas, brush teeth, do a puzzle, read a book together, etc.
5. How old is he? And what does he do when he wakes up in the middle of the night? Let me know in the follow up comments and depending on your answers I will have one more tip for you! 🙂