While bedtime is normally my focus of conversation, when the time came for all three of my kids to be in school, the real stressor in my life wasn’t how I was going to make bedtime easy, but how I was going to make the mornings as simple as possible for all of us. My mission was to get them all out the door, fed, clothed, with backpacks in hands, with as little chaos as possible.
I’m not that mom who makes lunches at night. EVERY year I start off with that intention in mind, and I fail miserably by the night before the first day of school. Let’s face it: when dinner is done, cleaned up, and the kids are put to bed, the LAST thing I want to do is make lunches.
So I make it a point to wake up in the morning while the house is still quiet and get cracking on lunches before the kids wake up. If they do wake up while I’m still slapping together sandwiches, it was important for me to know that they can start getting themselves ready on their own. Even at 4 and 8 years of age.
Teaching them to brush their own teeth and get dressed themselves early on was high on my parenting list of things to do, but picking out three outfits every morning and getting everyone dressed was not. Right from the start I created, in my opinion, the BEST morning routine hack EVER.
I bought a bin for each day of the week and every Sunday I would pick out outfits for each day and place them in the bins - everything down to underwear and socks. Then they are able to just go and get their outfit for that day and change while I get breakfast on the table. No fights, no fuss, no searching for that sweater, and happy smiles on the way to school.
As my daughter gets older, she wants more say in her outfits, so this system also means less battles in the morning between her and I because she and I can pick them out together on Sunday. She gets to choose what she wants to wear, and I get to veto certain items based on practicality and weather when we are both calm and relaxed and not in the craziness of a school day morning. #WinWin
If you have multiple kids heading off to school this year, the sooner you can get them to start doing things themselves, the easier everyone’s mornings will become, and the better each of you will start your day.
The American Academy of Pediatric reported on Monday a study involving video of over 160 infants and the environment in which they slept. Through the videos researchers gained insight into how safe their sleep space was and monitored each baby for one night at the ages of 1, 3, and 6 months.
Surprisingly despite recommendations from the AAP, health care providers, and safe sleep campaigns, throughout the duration of recordings 10-21% of babies were placed in unsafe sleep environments, 14-33% were not placed on the recommended back to sleep position, and 87-93% of babies studied had unsafe products like loose blankets, stuffed animals, pillows, bumper pads, and sleep positioners in their cribs.
With sleep-related deaths such as sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed being the most common cause of death for babies between the ages of 1 month to a year old, these findings are important and display the urgency for further messaging of infant safe sleep practices.
Parents are tired and I understand that. Often to get those few extra hours of sleep parents are willing to do whatever it takes to help their baby fall back to sleep. That may mean changing baby’s sleep environment half way through the night, or throwing in a stuffed animal to occupy baby when baby wakes. What parents have to remember is keeping things a simple as possible in regards to their baby’s sleep environment is always best.
Remember that keeping sleep as simple as possible for your baby is always the safest route to take and introducing better sleep habits once your baby is old enough will also help parents keep safe sleep practices consistent as baby starts sleeping better.
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I provide free child and family sleep support on my Facebook page. I invite you to join our sleep community as I work towards Good Night Sleep Site's mission of a healthier rested family unit. For more sleep tips please visit Good Night Sleep Site and visit me on Instagram and Twitter. Join our movement and #BringBackBedtime.
Time goes by so fast, and before you know it, your little one is headed off to Kindergarten. This is a big transition for both child and parent. While it’s an exciting time, there is the stress of adjustment, and it can take time for your child to adjust to their new routine and full-day school. Being a well-rested family can help make this transition easier, but that can be hard to accomplish when you are suddenly cutting naps on your daily napper.
My recommendation is to prepare your little one for full-day school before the first day of school actually happens. A few weeks prior to school starting, begin to eliminate sleep during the day so that your little one has a chance to get used to being up all day. You don’t have to cut out naps entirely. Even if you offer no naps just a few days a week your child is already making the transition they need to, just slowly, and that’s okay.
No Nap Tip! You can replace daily sleep with some quiet time. Allow your child to play quietly in their room instead of napping so that they can still get the rest they need throughout the day.
The start of full-day school is a major transition for your child. Suddenly they are no longer sleeping throughout the day, possibly waking up earlier than usual in the morning due to the new school routine, and let’s not forget the busy-ness of they’re new school day adventures. Making bedtime earlier for the first few months during this adjustment is key in allowing your child to successfully transition to their new routine. Also make sure to include a nice calming bedtime routine to allow your child to prepare for sleep and provide attachment time between the two of you where you can check in with each other and catch up about the day.
Bedtime Tip! This is the age where you want to start communicating the importance of sleep and explain not just that they have to sleep but why they have to sleep. Establish a healthy relationship between sleep and your child by being consistant with their sleep rules and patterns and making sure they understand why these sleep steps are being done.
For the first few months after starting Kindergarten, it’s important to try and fit in plenty of downtime during the weekends so that your little one can take it easy and possibly fit in an afternoon nap if needed. Use your weekends to allow your child to rest up for the week ahead. Doing so will help ease the stress and possible sleep loss of their new Kindergarten routine.
I provide free child and family sleep support on my Facebook page. I invite you to join our sleep community as I work towards Good Night Sleep Site's mission of a healthier rested family unit. For more sleep tips please visit Good Night Sleep Site and visit me on Instagram and Twitter. Join our movement and #BringBackBedtime.
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