Making Bedtime Pleasant and Peaceful

• Develop special bedtime routines with your child – a special song, a good-night rhyme, a stuffed animal just to sleep with.

• For many children, the key to successful bedtime is helping them “wind down”. Many tantrums are caused when parents try to put children to bed without ample preparation. 

• Help your child adjust to the idea of going to bed by creating a sense of calm and allowing time for her to transition from play to rest. 

• The classic bedtime story is a great way to make the transition to sleep. Reading together can provide quiet cuddling time, help your child relax before bed, and instill a lifelong love reading.

This activity helps children anticipate going to bed and is a fun way to introduce concepts of time and numbers. 

•  As your child completes his/her bedtime activities, announce how much time is left every fifteen minutes.

•  When the last fifteen-minute period starts, begin making final preparations for going to sleep – snuggle and talk about the day, read a special story, or sing a favorite song.

• Make a list of the pictures of all the bedtime activities your child must complete each night before bed.

•  As your child does each activity on the picture list, she will know that bedtime is approaching bedtime. 

• Be sure the final activity is fun and soothing.

Book Suggestions: 

How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night? by Jane Yolen, Mark Teague

A story of ten dinosaurs who resist bedtime by acting out in funny and mischievous ways. Children will recognize themselves in the dinosaurs’ behavior and laugh out loud at the big, comical and colorful illustrations. Toddlers learn big dinosaur names like ‘Stegosaurus’ while they learn a lesson about bedtime antics. (Scholastic)