6 Ways To Help Your Kids Sleep Better In Summer
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Summer is just around the corner and I’m so excited for the summer holidays – they just can’t come fast enough! We’re really looking forward to our family summer holiday Cornwall, visiting lots of new places and having exciting adventures. However, there is a major downside to summer and if you’re a parent, you’ll totally understand it…The kids just don’t seem to sleep!
They’re excited, it’s usually too hot, they’re full of energy and it’s always light outside.
Sleep deprived children can turn any family fun day into a nightmare before you’ve even worked out what’s wrong. I’ve written before about the Impact Of Lack Of Sleep In Children – it really can turn the most angelic child into a sobbing mess.
So here are some great tips on how to ensure your children get enough sleep during the summer!
Blackout Blinds Are Essential!
Even on the lead up to summer, you’ll probably have noticed your children being extra cranky. That’s most likely to do with the fact that when bedtime rolls around, it’s still bloomin’ light outside! The longer days causes me no ends of problems in summer; the best solution I have found is getting good quality blackout blinds. Never fear though, these don’t need to be a bold black colour that stands out against your children’s lovingly designed bedroom. Companies like Make My Blinds create made to measure blinds in a variety of colours and textures and this includes their blackout blinds range. While you’re at it, why not pick up a set of blackout blinds for your own bedroom? Every extra minute of sleep is precious when it comes to the summer holidays!
Tire them out…but not too much!
Finding the balance between ‘tired’ and ‘I’m-going-to-scream-the-house-down tired’ can be tricky. The days are long. They usually start pretty early {though hopefully not too early if you’ve bought blackout blinds} and when it feels like 3 hours have passed, it’s sometimes only been 30 minutes. The kids seem to have mountains of energy and quite frankly, I do not. However, it’s in my best interest to tire them out with lots of fun and games during the day so that they sleep well during the night.
The trick is to ensure that the craziness doesn’t get too out of hand as bedtime draws closer. It really helps to have a routine throughout the summer holiday and to stick to it as much as possible. It’s okay to break it once in a while, but having wind down time, dinner time, more quiet time and then bedtime really helps us avoid those over-tired, emotional tantrums.
Get outdoors as much as possible.
Nothing tires children out more than using all of their energy up exploring the big wide world. I’ve written before about how it can be easy to Make Outdoor Play Part Of Your Daily Routine, and this is especially easy if you have a garden. If you don’t have a garden, that doesn’t mean it’s not easy too. I’ve found that posts like 95 Things To Do With Kids In Summer In Surrey and Hampshire offer loads of activities, days out and free places to walk so you’ll always have somewhere outside to explore.
Have a bath or shower before bed.
Sweat, suncream, dirt and grass stains…It’s likely that by the end of a long day playing in the summer sunshine, your kids will be needing a wash! I hate feeling sticky from all the suncream and sweat during summer and I always want to have a wash before crawling into bed. Feeling sticky is horrible and climbing into bed feeling hot and sticky is the worst during the summer! Having a good soak in the bath or a shower before bed always makes Luke feel refreshed and ready for bed. The warm water relaxes their busy bodies and busy minds, making it a perfect pre-bedtime ritual.
Keep bedrooms cool.
A really good way of keeping the temperature of children’s bedrooms cool during the summer is to leave their blackout blinds pulled down with the window open behind. This lets the fresh air flow through the room, but keeps the heat out. I did tell you blackout blinds were essential! In the UK, air con is a rarity within homes, but it’s something that my other half and I have seriously considered. For now though, we use fans which work well during the night, as long as you make sure that they’re not pointing directly at young children and babies. Don’t forget to make sure you’ve swapped out the thick, heavy duvets for light weight summer ones.
Read some new bedtime stories together.
Why not use the summer holidays as an excuse to read some new bedtime stories? Or, even better, continue your children’s education by encouraging them to read their bedtime story to you! Luke’s a huge bookworm and loves reading both his and his brother’s books. He’s read Oscar Goes To Sleep to me and his little brother loads of times; I think he finds it pretty satisfying finishing a non-school book.
Switching it up and bit and finding new stories to read can encourage this calming bedtime ritual. You don’t need to spend a penny though, so don’t worry. Just head to your local library! You can join up and take out books at the same time, plus there’s always loads of activities on for the children during school holidays. I always find loads of great quality books for sale cheaply on Facebook, Shpock and in charity shops.
We all know that getting children to sleep in the summer can be tricky, but hopefully with these tips, you will retain some of your sanity! There’s no magic way of ensuring that your child gets the perfect night’s sleep, especially in summer. However, hopefully these tips will help you out and make it easier for you children to drift off, even when they’re excited about the holidays.
Other Posts You Might Like
Oscar Goes To Sleep Book Review
The Danger Of Not Getting Enough Sleep
The Impact Of Lack Of Sleep In Children
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4 Comments
Hannah
Greatly tips lovely – definitely agree about getting the balance between tiring them out and over tiring them!!
Samantha Griffiths
These are some great tips (I feel like a lot could be applied to adults too!) I always sleep better if I have a bath or shower before bed, especially if it’s hot and sticky outside x
Renee @ Mummytries
Great tips here! I am a big fan of blackout blinds too and we are literally about to start a brand new story this evening x
Kara
Blackout blinds are a god send, I would be awake very early without them!!