The Happiest Mothers Put Their Children To Bed Early
The happiest mothers always have time to themselves. The happiest mothers put their children to bed earlier and include this rule in the routine so that the sleep of the little ones is relaxing and pleasurable.
The never-ending story of the child who didn’t want to sleep
When it’s 8 pm and the child doesn’t want to sleep, some mothers let them play a little longer.
It’s 9 o’clock and by then the little one should be in bed. But since we have a lot of household chores to do, we let him keep doing what he’s doing a little longer.
“Caution! Don’t let him get too excited.”
“Caution! Don’t make him laugh too much because he’ll be electric later.”
Grandmothers give this kind of advice over the phone.
So, we mothers try to propose more peaceful activities to our child.
We give some sheets and crayons to paint, some play dough to make balls… Anyway, any activity that doesn’t cause a lot of fuss and that also leaves us free for the housework.
10 pm arrives and the child should already be sleeping standing up. But by this time we’ve just laid out the clothes and we want a few minutes to shower and be completely ready for our son.
So we postponed his sleep time and continued to be permissible.
At 10:30 it’s time to go to bed! It’s a little late for him. But surely this delay will turn into a good rest. What a mistake! That night the child stays until 11:00 or midnight tossing and turning in bed, not wanting to sleep a wink.
Want to drink water, drink a bottle, get another stuffed animal, go pee, drink water again… As we satisfy cravings, the list gets longer.
And there we are, late at night as submissive subordinates carrying out the whims of the little ones. Finally, at half past midnight he surrenders. You will definitely sleep until the next day! Another mistake!
That night our little one wakes up 5, 6 or 7 times asking us to put him to sleep. He jumps as if someone is calling him insistently and not letting him go back to sleep.
So when we think he’s sleeping soundly, we see him turn over and over again, play, and wake up again. As if our son wasn’t tired and had had 4 or 5 cups of coffee to stay wide awake.
So, the next day, when he goes to day care, he doesn’t want to wake up. Our son and ourselves got up, wanting to go back to bed. He’s going to be sleepy all day and we’re going to be completely stressed out and not able to make the job work.
The happiest mothers put their children to bed earlier
We emphasize that the happiest, most rested mothers put their children to bed earlier. Know that the child’s rest turns into:
- Free hours to dedicate to you and your partner. After all, your happiness and well-being depend on it too.
- Less tension when it comes to doing the household chores you usually do at night. You don’t have to wash, iron, sweep or do any other task with the worry of constantly seeing what your child is “making up” in the next room.
- Relaxation, deep and pleasurable sleep . Your child will have the necessary hours to rest. This way, both his body and his brain will have the opportunity to replenish the necessary energy for the next day.
- Not having to feel obligated to break the limits of permissiveness. That way, your child won’t be the one to impose his own will every time he doesn’t want to go to bed . If you get him used to going to bed early, you won’t have to put up with his tantrums or give in to his whims when you don’t want to go to bed. Remember, this is not the disciplined education you want to give your child.
- The proper use of rest and rejuvenating sleep that he needs so much.
- Peace of mind for the rest of the family. If you live with other members in the home, everyone will have the opportunity to gather and share familiar topics that should not be discussed in the child’s presence.
Anyway…
Mom, so that stories like the one above don’t happen, you must first of all establish and follow a sleep routine every night.
If your child begs, tell him that play can go on until a certain time and that when the clock shows the time you set, he should go to bed even if he wants to keep playing.
Convince him with a song, a story, a moment together in mom and dad’s bed… You certainly know your child’s tastes. But never forget how important sleep is to your child and how important rest is to being the good mother you are.
