We all know that it’s important to get enough sleep at night, and it’s especially important for our kids who are still growing. But any parent can tell you that getting your child to go to sleep at night is not always easy.

I am Lisa Tarr, I’m a Pediatric Physical Therapist as well as the CEO and Founder of First Steps Pediatric Therapy. We provide physical, occupational, and speech therapy services in the clinic and at home. Today, we’re going to talk about how to develop healthy sleep habits for your child.

Sleep Is Important for Your Child’s Development

The reason why sleep is super important is that it helps with emotional regulation, brain development, physical growth, and even supports the immune system. Without enough sleep, these areas can be adversely affected. That’s why we want to establish a healthy sleep routine, because all of us (and especially our kids) need enough sleep.

Establish a Healthy Sleep Hygiene Routine

Sleep hygiene is what we call the routines we follow to be able to get a good night’s sleep. For example, you may choose not to have any caffeine after 4:00 PM because you know that if you do, you won’t be able to go to sleep at bedtime. That would be a part of your sleep hygiene.

For kids, what we want to do is:

  • Set a consistent bedtime schedule
  • Limit screen time an hour before bed, since the blue lights can mimic sunlight and trick the brain into thinking it’s time to be awake
  • Follow the same steps to get ready for bed each night, at the same time (e.g., take a bath, dress in pajamas, brush teeth, read a bedtime story)

Try to Keep Sleep Routines Consistent

We want to set up a consistent routine that any of your child’s parents or caregivers can follow to support your child’s sleep. That’s simply because it’s not always possible that one parent is always doing the bedtime routine. For your child’s sleep routine, you should consider the following points.

What Time Your Child Goes to Bed

You should also try to be consistent on the time of day that you put your child to bed. We want to avoid the late nights. Even on the weekends or during vacations, putting them to bed within an hour window of their normal bedtime will be great.

So, if their normal bedtime is seven o’clock, you don’t want to put them to bed at ten o’clock on the weekend because that’s going to offset their sleep-wake cycle a little bit. And that’s going to be more difficult for you as a parent.

Where Your Child Goes to Sleep

You should also be consistent with where you’re placing your child to sleep. If they sleep in their bedroom, then you shouldn’t allow them to sleep in multiple different areas like the couch or a different bed. Or if you’re traveling, have one place for your child to sleep, like a pack and play if they’re small. That will help maintain the consistency of their sleep schedule.

Which Self-Soothing Items Your Child Has at Bedtime

The last thing that you guys can do is encourage your child to have their self-soothing regulation techniques. That can be a stuffed toy to snuggle, a favorite blanket, or any of those types of things. That helps them learn how to get themselves to sleep consistently without you as the parent having to regulate them as much.

Another example is, if you read a book before bedtime, you can let them keep that book with them as they get older. Then they can sit and look at the pictures or read the book on their own until they fall asleep.

Track Your Child’s Sleep Patterns for Better Insight

Tracking your child’s sleep patterns can be a great tool if you have a child that has sleeping difficulties. The reason why you want to track their sleep is that, over time, you can identify patterns. If you track who put them to bed, at what time, and start collecting data, you can look at that data to see what worked well for your child and what didn’t.

You also want to track how well they slept. Did they sleep through the night? If they woke up, how long did it take for them to go back to sleep? Did they need a diaper change? Did they wake up with night terrors?

Once you have that information, it can help you understand how their sleep routine impacts the quality of their sleep. For example, if they had a bath one night and slept really well, you might be able to identify if it was the bath that helped them sleep, or if it was the lotion that you put on them afterward. The more data you have, the more you can identify all of the things that help them be more regulated. And once you’ve identified what steps help your child sleep better, you can adopt those steps into the nighttime routine.

When Should You Seek a Professional Opinion?

If your child is having sleep difficulty, you definitely want to talk to their pediatrician because they can help you rule out things like an iron deficiency, sleep apnea, an airway obstruction, or anything like that.

If you’ve ruled out everything from a medical standpoint and you’re still having difficulty, you should contact us. Occupational therapy can help you establish healthy sleep time routines for your child. 

A strategy right now that could help you guys would be to create a small picture schedule of your child’s bedtime routine. This would include the key activities in order, like: take a bath, brush your teeth, hop in bed. This can help your child get used to the routine, which can help them be more prepared for sleep.

Reach Out to First Steps for Expert Support

If your child needs help with their sleep routine, First Steps Pediatric Therapy is here to help. Call us at (700) 900-7432 for more information or to schedule an evaluation for your child today.