Enforcing a Good Sleep Routine

Would you like your kids to get a good night sleep and awaken, starry eyed and bushy tailed, ready to enjoy the challenges and pleasures of the day?
One of the secret to this is establishing and encouraging a good sleep routine.
Yes! adequate sleep is as important to your well being as having a proper diet and exercise.

So how does one go about accomplishing this?
Here are some insights and tips to help you along the way.
First, how much sleep does one need?
Children need much more sleep than adults.
The experts have developed guidelines based on age to determine the amount of hours of sleep needed per day.

They are as follows:
0 -6 mths.......16-20 hours

6 mths-1 yr....14-15 hours

1 yr - 3 yrs...10-13 hours

3 yrs- 10 yrs...10-12 hours

11-yrs-12 yrs...10 hours

Teenagers........9 hours

Adults...........8- 9 hours

Inadequate sleep may cause the following:
Children lacking the proper amounts of sleep may experience irritability, difficulty focusing and concentrating, over stimulation, learning disabilities and poor social behaviors.

The benefits of adequate sleep are important in boosting childrens' well being.
They will appear sharp and focused, energized and full of vitality, but also with the ability to be calm and relaxed.
Adequate sleep also enhances children's immune system, which lessen the chances of contracting the flu from others.
The key is to establish and encourage sleep routines for your children based on their age.

Tips
The busiest and most stressful part of the evening can be between coming home, fixing and having supper, helping your children with home work assignments and getting the small ones ready for bed.

The stress can be eased by planned routines with times set to accomplish these tasks and a set bed time hour.

Allow for quiet, down time, prior to the bed time hour.

Reading to small children, dimming the lights and playing soft, quiet music can be very effective.

Once you have established your routine rewards may be given at times, for example, if grandma came over to visit maybe an extra half an hour to stay up and enjoy some time together wouldn't hurt. Those moments are precious and special.

What do you do when there is refusal to comply with the bed time routine?
That's when you will have to set limits, take time out, take away favorite treats, toys and privileges. Put your parenting skills on, lovingly say what your expectations are and follow up with gestures of love.

Once you have established and practiced the bed time routine, you will find that your children will become more acceptable to the routine and their bodies will become adjusted to the bed time hour.

This will reduce their refusal and they will begin to benefit from the rewards of a good night sleep.

A planned evening routine will result in relaxed and enjoyable evenings for you and your family.
In addition you will also have a better night sleep.