Trying to establish a good night-time routine with your children can be incredibly difficult. With the right perseverance and a strong mindset, you should be able to establish something that works for the whole family. Here’s some of our best tips for getting your children into a good night-time routine.
Make It Age–Appropriate
The older your children are, the more control they should have. For example, children of age ten and up could be left to take themselves entirely to bed, with just a bedtime being the only piece of enforcement for you. They are allowed to spend their evening as they wish, and then they are encouraged to get themselves to bed.
Try to establish a routine for them to follow within that, leaving the choice open to them to follow it if they choose. For example, they might have braces from Straight My Teethto look after. By giving them the power to look after them, as well as any knowledge that Straight My Teeth have to pass on, you could create a good set of boundaries that also teaches them a lit bit of responsibility that can be carried forwards into other parts of your life too.
Inject Fun into It
If it feels like a whole process, either for you or for your children, you are likely to find the bedtime routine very difficult to manage otherwise, and so you need to have something about it that is a little fun.
For example, you should try to make games where you can. Encourage your children to play in the bath during their nightly wash, read to them from a fun book that you can enjoy, or even see if you can make up a song or ditty that could help to speed things along. Whatever you choose to do, it is bound to make bedtime that little bit easier for everyone to manage.
Tag-Team with Your Partner
If you have children of different ages then you might not be able to run parts of the bedtime routine at the same time. While one child needs to be read to, the other might still be in the bath. Therefore, you and your partner should work together to tag-team and get everything done.
One of you could handle the baths while the other reads, and then swap over so you can both spend time with each of your children. Work together to create a routine that benefits everyone.
Some people look towards establishing a night-time routine with dread, but like many things in life it can be a lot easier to manage if you approach it with a mind to properly organise things. You need to ensure that you create a system that works for everyone and gets them to bed even if someone is reluctant to go to sleep on that particular night. Take the time to sort the perfect bed-time routine for your family today, you are not going to regret it!
