Every night the same horror. Putting my 4-year-old to bed is sometimes beyond my powers. Why is it so? What´s wrong? Well, nothing except that he doesn´t know how to fall asleep. He is constantly turning round, kicking his legs, rubbing his eyes, scratching one toe with the other, tapping his fingers, sometimes even driving his cars over the surface of the blanket (though they should be sleeping in their garage).
So instead of going mad I started to give him advice: If you want to fall asleep, it is important to lie still and not move. Listen carefully, can´t you hear a star clinking? (Giggling after five seconds: When is it going to clink, mum? I can´t hear anything.) My last advice was trying to sound familiar to him as if not said by me but Doctor Hudson, a character from his favourite movie: „Find a track that works for you.“ Than you can make it. Just find a comfortable position. No change…
So I decided to search the Internet to get the answer for my question. You wouldn´t believe but there are loads of information about this stuff. What have I learnt?
Falling asleep seems to be the most natural and easiest thing in the world. Just close your eyes and that´s it. But it is not such easy. Parents should teach their children how to fall asleep but what if they do not know it themselves? There are some techniques which lead to much more effective sleep than others.
Begin your preparations for sleep during the day. That means try to reduce the stress level. Applied to your children – too much excitement right before bedtime can scare their sleep away. So do not let them watch any thrilling video or jump on the beds. They can do it any other time of the day. Do not let them take longer midday nap than really needed. Be carefull with their evening food – it should contain a lot of carbohydrates and diary products (if not milk itself) but less proteins.
Schedule your sleep patterns deliberately. Think of a good bedtime routine for your children, a step-by-step stereotype which slowly leads them to bed. Every item of this routine should be done at precise time. I am not talking about hygiene only. Some of the bedtime habits could be nice and relaxing, such as reading a tale, listening to music or singing songs or using imagination and letting your children wander in their own Wonderland. The brain of our cutties should slowly become prepared to switch off.
Control your children´s sleep environment. Switch off all the electronics (or rather take it away) to avoid making sound or light. Draw the curtains or use window blinds if there is too much light from the outside. Stop any noise if it´s possible. And finally set the heating on a comfortable temperature. It is commonly known that the ideal temperature for sleeping is between 16 and 18 degrees. Not for me but you may try it. If cold, more covers are adviced.
And now the last thing: wear a comfortable piece of clothing, rather loose. Then find a comfortable position (Ha, finally, I was right!) and with a stroke of luck you are sleeping like a log immediately.
I don´t know if my advising was of any help but two days ago my beloved child started going to bed alone and falling asleep immediately. Or maybe he was just fed up with me always giving him some advice….
Sources:
http://www.how-to-fall-asleep.info/
http://health.howstuffworks.com/mental-health/sleep/basics/how-to-fall-asleep.htm
http://www.wikihow.com/Fall-Asleep
