Family Bed Confusion

Dear parent,

Young children want to be with their parents. Therefore, go to bed and they will join you. In the rare and unlikely case that they do not join you, here are a few things you can do to help synchronize your and their bedtime:

Your children may not be tired enough:

• Make sure their day includes lots of physical activity, running, jumping, climbing etc.

• Provide outdoor time. 

• In the evening hours avoid feeding the children fruit or anything sweet and instead provide protein.

• If they nap, keep them in area of activity and noise rather than in a separate quite room and they will nap for a shorter time.

• Open the curtains in the morning and play lively music to help the children get up and not linger in bed.

If in spite of all these changes you go to bed and your children don’t want to join (or they join but play in bed,) then you may want to consider the possibility that it is you who must change your sleep habits. There are things you can do to be less tired: Make sure to eat only real and wholesome foods, sleep later in the morning staying in bed as long as the children do, learn to enjoy your days (stress is tiring,) and teach your ming to get by with less sleep. Because, at the end, if the children are not tired, it is you who must adjust to their schedule. 

Warmly, Naomi Aldort, http://authenticparent.com