by Beverly Johnson

Created on: July 08, 2008

Helping your child fall asleep faster!
Easy tips and tricks to make any mom's job easier.

Getting a young child to fall asleep
can often be frustrating.

But when you consider that most little
kids stay awake, because there are better
things to do than sleep, it's not surprising.

This is especially true for children aged
four to ten years old.

If your child has had a good supper and bath

and still feels the need to stay awake, you
might want to try some of these simple
night time tips.

1. Establish a regular night time
schedule that never varies.

Offer to read your child one book
as a reward, just before bed.

2. Keep dim lights in the house
after eight pm. The body readjusts
the internal clock based on available
lighting.

Even if it's 11 PM your child's body may
still feel as if it's daytime.
And she won't feel tired.

3. Offer your child a light high-carb snack
like plain bread or muffin just before
bedtime.

This will direct the blood away from
her brain and into her stomach.

Most likely she will feel drowsy
and fall asleep much sooner at night.

4. Bath time before bed.

Sometimes a bath will make a child
feel more active, so that they want
to stay up and play.

Other children find a warm bath to
be soothing.

It depends on the child.
No two children are alike on this issue.

5. Make promises.

This one works for my daughter.

"If you lay down and go to sleep now,
I have a big surprise for you tomorrow!"

Just make sure you have some tiny trinket
for her when she wakes up.

Or, go online and print down some cool
coloring pages or stickers she can
have as her reward.

6. Let her be!

My daughter loves having her own space
though she is only four years old.

She needs time to decompress and will
lie in bed for almost half an hour
talking to her dolls and playing.

As long as she is lying in the dark,
I don't mind.

When she starts trying to get up,
I ask her to lay back down and
talk to her dolls.

Usually this activity puts her to
sleep within half an hour.

7. Keep the house quiet.

If the rest of the house is still
awake and watching TV loudly, there's little
chance that the young child will feel
compelled to go to sleep.

Confine TV watching to the master bedroom.

Put a small TV in the older teen's room
for private viewing and keep ambient noise
levels in the house to a minimum!

While the adults don't have to go to bed,
they might consider confining activities
behind closed doors of the master bedroom
as a courtesy to the younger children in the
house!

Getting your eight year old (or child of any age)
to sleep is not hard to do!

You just need lots of patience!

Try out various ideas until
you find the ones that work best for your child.

And most importantly, don't forget the night time
hug!

This comforting gesture assures your child that
they are safe and you will be there for them
in the morning when they wake up!

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