What time should you put your child in bed? Forget misconceptions. Here are the tips of a specialist to establish a healthy routine and adapt your little ones’ bedtime, without compromise on their well-being.
For children, a well -crafted routine is not a luxury: it is a necessity. According to Doctor Daniel Golshevsky, renowned sleeping expert and pediatrician, it is regularity, more than duration, that matters. “Children thrive with predictable benchmarks”he explains. A fixed bedtime helps strengthen their emotional and physical well-being while stimulating their cognitive capacities.
Indeed, from birth, babies develop an anchoring need, also going through sleep. For the little ones, under the age of two, early sunset seem ideal. Once the nap is abandoned, these schedules can then be advanced in order to meet their needs, sometimes up to 11 hours of sleep in a row. But what about parents who come back late or juggle extracurricular activities?
Doctor Golshevsky advocates in this case to adapt intelligently. “If an early routine is not suitable for your lifestyle, a later routine can work, provided that the child receives sufficient sleep time”. He advises to anticipate: prepare meals in advance, adjust the duration of the baths or even sacrifice a story of the evening would guarantee a serene bedtime. A major error, according to him? Sleeping a child too tired. An excess of fatigue can cause night awakenings and early morning awakenings, disturbing the balance of the next day. But then, what time your child and apply these rituals? “At the school age, an hour of sleeping around 7 pm to 7:30 pm is ideal”, reveals the doctor. As for younger children, or under two years old, “They are doing well, according to my experience, with an hour of sleeping between 6.30 pm and 7 pm”, he said.
In addition, to promote falling asleep, the specialist recommends foreseeable rituals before sleeping: sifted lights, absence of screens an hour before bedtime, and a comfortable room, with an adapted temperature. These small habits make it possible to create an environment conducive to deep and restful sleep. As you can see, respect these time slots and the days will be particularly pleasant, both for your little one and for you.