Even if you're an early bird, there's no parent out there that enjoys 5am wake-up calls courtesy of the kids! One of the most common problems that parents with toddlers or young children face is sleep difficulties. Not only does this affect the little ones, but it can also wreak havoc on your own sleep cycle.
So, if your little one is an early riser, here are 5 helpful sleep hacks to help them stay in bed that that little bit longer. Like all bad habits, the quicker you tackle them, the better the outcome!
- Set a sleep routine
When it comes to helping your early riser get a good night's sleep, a strong routine is essential. Stick to the same bedtime and get up at the same time every day, regardless of weekends and holidays. Your aim is to train your child's body clock to sleep in longer, so avoid changing any part of their sleep schedule unless it's unavoidable.
- Be consistent in your actions
If your child keeps waking up before 6am, consistency is key in breaking this disruptive habit. Every time your child comes into your room before it's time to wake up, put them back in their own bed. By consistently demonstrating that it's not time to wake up, this will hopefully help them to stay in their own bed for that extra bit longer.
- Aim for active days and peaceful evenings
You don't have to have kids to know that they have a seemingly unlimited amount of energy! Young kids in particular need to run around, play and burn off this energy during the day in order to sleep well at night.
In addition to active days, children also need some downtime towards the late afternoon/early evening to prepare them for a peaceful sleep. To help them relax before bedtime approaches, limit use of electronics, dim the lights and reduce any household noise.
- Define 'morning time'
As the parent or caregiver, you decide when it's ‘morning' in your household. Make your child or children aware of this by placing an easy-to-read children's clock in their bedroom and telling them when it's ok to come and see you in the morning.
Note: This is more effective for older kids rather than toddlers.
- Darken the bedroom
Light is an environmental cue that helps to set our body clock. When it's dark, our bodies produce the sleep hormone, melatonin, which helps us to get a good night's sleep. If it's too light, the quality of sleep will be disrupted. This is especially true for young kids, who are prone to night-time disturbances. If a small amount of light is entering your kid's bedroom in the morning, it could be causing them to wake early. To combat this, we recommend blacking out or blocking out your child's bedroom windows with blockout or blackout blinds.
Blackout blinds
At Half Price Blinds, many of our popular bedroom blinds can be custom-made with blockout or blackout fabric including affordable roller blinds. Blockout blinds, also known as blackout blinds, are incredibly popular due to the practical benefits of the blackout fabric, which can block out almost all light that enters through the window, including light from cars or streetlights.
With nearly all light blocked from your kid's bedroom windows, this can help to keep the eyes of early risers closed for an extra hour or so in the morning. Plus, they also come in handy if your toddler or young child needs to take a nap during the day.
If your child's bedroom faces the street, or you just want an extra layer of privacy over their window, double roller blinds are the perfect choice. Double roller blinds allow the pairing of two fabric layers in the one blind such as a sunscreen fabric layer with a blockout layer, which ensures privacy in the day and total blackout at night.
You can find out more about the best blinds for your child's bedroom in our blog.
Interested in blackout blinds for your child's bedroom? You can also get in touch via Facebook or by calling my Australian customer support team on 1300 699 041, and they'll beat any competing in-store or online blinds quote you may have by a huge 10 percent!
You can find all of our shutters, awnings, curtains and blinds online for the lowest prices, guaranteed. Plus, we deliver Australia-wide from Perth to the east coast and offer free shipping on metro orders over $449. For all other orders, shipping is $27.
Toodles!
H x
