When I realized that it was time for back to school, I was a mix of both excited, thankful, and completely overwhelmed.
It’s no wonder. During back to school, our job as parents gets demanding:
- Earlier bedtimes.
- Better breakfasts.
- Trying to find socks that actually match.
That’s why I’m thrilled to share a few tips with you today about getting back into a better back to school bedtime routine (or at least work towards a better routine). Because we all know that we function better with more sleep when we head back to school…
3 Steps a Better Back to School Bedtime Routine
Both my six-year-old and my three-year-old go to bed between 7:30-8:00pm.
That might be late for some or early for others, but it’s just right for us because my kids wake up around 7:00am (which is the earliest this Mama will open her eyes).
I’m not going to lie though, I wasn’t always a believer in early bedtimes. Until I realized that my son was starting to show signs of this…
1.) Avoid Letting Your Child Do This
There is a window of time when my son completely hits a wall. He melts down over everything, he is weepy, and sometimes clingy. If I wait too long to start bedtime, he gets an adrenaline rush and it’s IMPOSSIBLE to get him to bed early. Then, we’re looking at a bedtime between 9:00-10:oo pm with lots of head to head battles. Sometimes, this will happen for a week or longer.
Guess what is actually happening?
He’s going into ‘sleep debt.’ It turns out, this is a real issue.
According to Joleen Dilk Salyn, founder of Baby Sleep 101 and sleep consultant:
“When a child is overtired, they enter into a state of sleep deprivation (…). Children will often react in two different ways-cranky, clingy and lots of crying or just the opposite; they’re overactive and hyper because their bodies are running on adrenaline. In the latter instance a child will often resist sleep, which misleads the parent into believing that the child isn’t tired. (…)
When a child has been missing his or her required amount of sleep for several days, weeks or months, this missing sleep takes its toll on their body and produces a ‘sleep debt’.”
Salyn goes on to describe five ways to help your child out of ‘sleep debt’ in her article, but as we discuss back to school bedtime routines, I think it’s important to point out that many of our children are overly tired and “off” from summer sleep routines.
Tip: Setting a bedtime and sticking to it will help kids recover from ‘sleep debt.’ Things will get easier as children start getting more sleep from a regular bedtime and wake up time. Yes, even on the weekends… *shudder*
2.) Memorize the Three B’s
We love our scholastic bedtime book because it has a bedtime routine that is so easy to remember, my three-year-old is able to recite the routine on his own – without help!
The book is about a family of bees who are not waking up before the early morning birds and missing out on yummy nectar. So, the bee’s implement the three B’s at night:
- Brush
- Book
- Bed
I love this because it helps to get my kids ready for all the steps before bed. I often say, “We’re brushing our teeth, what is the second B?” They generally scream, “BOOK!” because they love reading at night. Then I ask them what happens after the book and they respond, “bed…”
While they’re not as excited about the bed part, you’d be amazed with how letting kids know what comes next can help them to go to bed more easily.
Tip: Win new bedtime books by participating in the Read2Me Tonight Challenge where parents take a photo or video of them reading out loud to their children as part of their bedtime routine for a chance to win all 100 Best Read-Aloud Books and a PAW Patrol™ “Brushers Bundle” from Orajel.
3. You’re Not Going to Like This One Because It’s About YOU!
My last tip for a better back to school bedtime routine is to go to bed consistently at night YOURSELF.
Yep.
I said it.
You need a bedtime too!
Just as our kids can go into ‘sleep debt’ (see #1), we can too. And, we aren’t helpful to ourselves or to our kids if we are running around without banked up sleep.
So, go to bed instead of watching that extra episode of Netflix and you’ll see the benefits.
Here’s What I CAN’T Guarantee
While I know these tips will help your family get better sleep, there’s no way to know if the extra sleep will allow you to find socks that match.
Nobody’s perfect.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of ORAJEL. The opinions and text are all mine.
bucks county mom says
We all joke about dreading back to school, in reality we crave that return to routine- even kids! I am a firm believer in reading books before bed too. A routine that can’t start too young, in my opinion.