How To Create A Calming Sleep Environment For Your Child

Do you know that children who sleep soundly on a regular basis usually have better mental and physical health, longer attention span, stronger memory, and superior comprehension abilities? Sound sleepers also perform better in academics and careers! As a responsible parent, you need to ensure that your child gets quality sleep for an adequate number of hours every night. We bring you some worthy advice on how to go about it.

Sleep is such a vital part of daily life for both adults and children. We know how awful it feels when we don’t get proper sleep for a sufficient number of hours. Quality sleep and good health go together. When it comes to children, good sleeping habits are even more vital. Sleeping isn’t just resting time for kids; it is also linked to many more areas of their life. Poor sleep in childhood can even lead to hypertension, obesity, and depression.

From installing blackout custom curtains to establishing healthy sleep time rituals,  there are several small tips you can follow to ensure quality sleep for your kids, by creating a calm sleeping environment for them.

1. Create their personal sleeping zone – Ideally, every child should have their own bedroom. If that’s not possible, a child should have their own bed that should be off-limits to the rest of the family so they can make it into their own cozy space.
2. Declutter the sleeping zone – A cluttered place makes the mind anxious and anxiety kills sleep. Hence, inculcate the habit of cleaning up and putting away toys, books and art materials, etc. in their proper places before bedtime. This will make your child appreciate a clean space and also bring calmness which is vital for healthy sleep.
3. Block out outside light and noise – Usually, children sleep early and the adults, a little late. Keep the television/music system volume low to ensure your activities don’t interfere with your children’s sleep. Also, consider hanging blackout curtains to prevent outside light from entering the room, and for many other benefits offered by blackout curtains. 
4. Get a comfortable bed and mattress – Not a folding futon or a makeshift cot or a trundle bed, or the living room couch. Your child should have a real bed with a comfortable mattress. The idea is that your child should identify their bed as their sleeping sanctuary.
5. Ensure clean bed linen, comfortable pillows, and temperature-appropriate comforter – Squeaky clean bed sheet and pillow covers plus a snug or cool comforter (as the weather dictates) are some wholesome ways to make the mind and the body relax and slip off into the dream time. With kids, you can choose themed bed linen sets as per their liking to make them happy.
6. Keep the room color palette soothing – Strong colors like red, orange, or magenta do not go with soothing sleep. It is better to use gentler pastels – soft greens, pale blues, ivory, etc. –  for an assuring sense of serenity. Bolder colors can be used as accents in soft furnishings such as a comfortable armchair in the reading corner or custom roman shades on the windows.
7. Create a bedtime routine – Having a regular bedtime routine gives your child’s mind multiple healthy cues on slowing down and preparing for sleep.  Washing face and feet or taking a bath, brushing teeth, combing hair, wearing clean and comfortable nightclothes, dimming lights, putting away books and toys, reading them a bedtime story, giving a goodnight hug, saying a short prayer, etc. are all part of a healthy bedtime routine. Some of these also strengthen the parent-child bonding.
8. Give the tots a stuffed toy or two to ease separation anxiety – Younger children like to hold onto a stuffed toy for companionship. Do remember to place one or two of their favorite teddy bears by their pillow but avoid cluttering their room and designing it to be more cozy.
9. Switch off phone/ tablet/television/ laptop screens one hour before their bedtime – Screen light keeps the brain on alert. Curtail your child’s screen time to an hour before bedtime and they will slip into sleep faster.
10. Add comforting fragrances – Lavender and chamomile are two fragrances that induce sleepiness. We recommend using either or both of these essential oils (2-3 drops are enough) in an evaporator or sprinkled directly on the pillowcase.
11. Install a nightlight – While total darkness means sound sleep in adults, most children feel slightly afraid of it. Install a gentle nightlight in your kid’s bedroom that gives just enough light to keep them reassured (and to show the way for night trips to the washroom) without keeping them awake.
12. Keep the room temperature comfortable – Depending on where you live and what the weather there is like, your child’s bedroom needs appropriate heating/ cooling /ventilation. Make sure that you have whatever gadgets – air conditioner, ceiling fan, heater, etc. duly installed and operating.

Used wisely, these tips will help you create an ideal sleep friendly bedroom to ensure that your child gets a calming sleep environment and he or she looks forward to their bedtime every day.