Most mothers who are recently into motherhood experience great difficulty while rocking their baby to bed. They either cry their hearts out or give up putting their babies. Most of them even prefer to pass on their responsibility to others like their husband. However, if the dad is also unable to sleep peacefully, both their parents tend to suffer.
But they do not realize that it is not the child but the process of lulling them to sleep that is disturbing the slumber. They often tend to get overboard while taking care of the nap. The bedroom is blamed mostly. The temperature might be too cold or too hot for the baby, or even too many scary and hideous monsters peeping through the closet, which can scare the child.
The suggested time for the kids varies according to their age. An infant needs more sleep so he needs to be put to bed as soon as dusk creeps in. While children who are preschoolers are often thwarted with sudden peer pressure at school and are succumbed to stress rather than those who are already school goers. While the latter start having a proper pattern of sleep the infants still struggle to get in the pattern of sleep. Very often the infants or even preschoolers end up throwing temper tantrums at bedtime. This causes havoc and uninvited stress for the new parents.
The importance of good slumber can never be compared with anything in the world. It is of high importance to the kids for their overall development. It also helps in restoring the wear and tear of muscles and strengthens the immune system. Surprisingly, children at a very young age are succumbed to depression, solitude, hopelessness, low self esteem if their sleep patterns are unorganized and deprived. They are also more prone to distractive activities like hyperactivity, learning problems, mental stability, disobedience, and angry outbursts. The end result is a cranky child completely out of hand.
Settling a proper time for children to sleep not only makes them organized and well disciplined but also mature and responsible adults. They realize the importance of sleeping early and getting up early. No other routine can hinder their pattern once their sleeping schedule gets organized.
Simple yet effective measures can be taking to enforce a healthy sleep pattern amongst children.
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Warm bath
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Bed time stories
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Prayers
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Songs
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Cuddling with their toys and kissing them good night
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Brushing their teeth
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A warm cup of milk
The kids can also be encouraged to write this routine on a paper and tick them every night to enforce regularity and pattern. They would feel all the more obliged and pleased to complete all tasks before time.
Television should always be banned before banned as it hinders the comfort of sleep. Television has several forbidden channels, which should be viewed in the daytime and not at night since they might have nightmares while sleeping.
Moreover, parents should also not help the kids to sleep since they tend to get habitual of their parents beside them whenever they wake up. They might not feel comfortable to sleep alone in their formative years since they were habitual of sleeping with their parents since infancy. Also, it creates a lot of trouble for the parents in the future. They appear tired and restless in the morning to follow since sharing the bed with the bed causes discomfort to them. They always continue to prefer sleeping with their parents and not alone. They shy away from the idea of sleeping altogether.
Sometimes children also snore at night; this can be due to breathing difficulties. This should not be taken seriously since it happens in most cases. Snoring is also linked with bedwetting since it is linked with brain. Cajoling and comforting the child can curb the uncontrolled snoring and bed-wetting altogether.
A bedtime should be the most desirable time for children. It should be fostered gently and patiently and not be hurried for it is a matter of a lifetime for the kids.
