{"id":780,"date":"2017-10-26T03:14:56","date_gmt":"2017-10-26T03:14:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mudpielullaby.com\/?p=780"},"modified":"2017-10-26T03:14:56","modified_gmt":"2017-10-26T03:14:56","slug":"please-just-sleep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mudpielullaby.com\/please-just-sleep\/","title":{"rendered":"Would You Please Just Sleep?!?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I love my kids so much it hurts. I miss them anytime\u00a0I’m away for more than a few hours. I go into their rooms and look at them sleeping when it’s been a few hours since they went to bed.<\/p>\n

But I’m not gonna lie. When 8:00 rolls around it is time. for. them. to. sleep.\"\"<\/p>\n

The sanity of every parent depends on their children going to sleep at a decent hour and letting them have just a few hours of peace and quiet in the evenings.<\/p>\n

But it’s becoming the norm for parents to fall into bed exhausted at 10 or 11 pm after *finally* getting their children to sleep.<\/h3>\n

And I’m not even talking about pre-teens here — I’m talking about 2-4 year old toddlers who are running around like wild banshees after being put in bed 11 times.<\/p>\n

The ones making piles of pillows to leap off of the bunk bed into.<\/p>\n

The ones that are sneaking out of their rooms and into the kitchen to raid the fridge at 10 o’clock because it’s been four hours since supper and they are genuinely too hungry to sleep.<\/p>\n

If that’s you, then this article is for you.<\/h3>\n

I understand that this won’t fix those who are dealing with mental handicaps and chemical disorders, though it will help with every chid in existence, from 12 months to 20 years.<\/p>\n

Each of these tips teaches children that evening is a time for winding down. They train their mental rhythms to recognize that sleep is imminent and help their bodies prepare for that.<\/p>\n

And the end result is a child that is very secure and has pleasant evenings and restful nights.<\/p>\n

Because we are humans. And as humans, consistency\u00a0is equivalent to security.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

So here are a few things that our family of 6 does that ensures that our children will settle quickly and sleep well:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1. Turn Off ALL Electronics 30 Minutes Before Bedtime.<\/h2>\n

It’s time to read books, build block towers, take warm baths, have a pillow fight — anything other than looking at strobing white and blue lights that are screaming to their tiny brains that “IT IS DAYTIME! STAY AWAKE BECAUSE THE SUN IS ALIVE AND HAPPY!”<\/p>\n

No, really, that’s how their brains interpret the lights and colors of electronics.<\/p>\n

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When they look at a TV or computer screen the instincts and training of thousands of years of DNA tells them that it is time to get up.<\/p>\n

This is called a circadian\u00a0rhythm, and not much jacks with it like a TV. That’s why it’s possible for people who usually fall asleep at 9pm sharp to binge watch an entire season of Walking Dead.<\/h3>\n

So turn it off. Turn off the hyper rock n’ roll rhythms while you are at it.<\/p>\n

I’ll confess, we occasionally do a kids’ yoga session right before bed, but it doesn’t actually seem to wind the kids down as much as it makes me sleepy, so I should probably push that back to the 1 hour before bed mark too.<\/p>\n

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2. Lower The Glycemic Index (That means nothing sweet or carby) Of Foods Before Bed.<\/h2>\n

Did you know that fruits are some of the top “energy jolt” foods<\/a> you can consume?<\/p>\n

That’s right. An orange for a bedtime snack is a really, really, REALLY bad idea.<\/p>\n

It’s hard to work with this. Especially since adults loooove their dessert at dinner time. But making sure that sweets and fruits are cut off around 3:00pm has made our household function so much better! I make special desserts for an afternoon snack on a regular basis, but the kids all know that we “don’t eat sugar before bed.”<\/p>\n

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Limiting dinner foods, and especially bedtime snacks, to foods that are high in fiber, protein, and healthy fats will help your child feel full and content through the night and dramatically cut down on the morning hangries.<\/p>\n

We don’t often have a need for bedtime snacks, because dinner at 6 and bed at 8 works great<\/em><\/strong>, but if we eat an early dinner than I like some of the following as bedtime snacks:<\/p>\n