Establish consistent bedtime schedules for each child. Think about getting you and your partner on a consistent schedule too. This consistency lessens the struggle of getting your children to cooperate at bedtime. It also improves sleep patterns and gets their body used to shutting down at night and starting back up in the morning.

Make a bed-time routine that starts at least a half hour before sleep. This can signal to your youngster that the day is winding down and they are in preparation for bed. This routine can include quiet-time, story time, brushing teeth and washing up, a favorite television show, anything that calms and doesn’t create excitement before bed. Doing this will also make bedtime a enjoyable experience for your children and cause less in-and-out of bed situations.

Let your child have some say on what their favourite bedtime routine ought to include. Including children in decision-making breaks down resistance to the process and allows things to go a lot smoother, particularly if your child looks forward to this routine rather than attempting to avoid it. Let them choose the activities and objects involved such as toys, games and books. Don’t restrict them unless the activities and objects chosen are not productive.

Draw a distinction between being in the bedroom and being in bed. This can signal to them the bedtime routine is over and it’s time for sleep. Remember you can’t make your child sleep at a particular time each night, they must do so naturally. But you can set them up to get the optimal amount of sleep by making a calming environment and ensuring they’re in their bedroom. Taking them away from the activity in the rest of the house and placing them in their bedroom surrounded by their favorite toys or books, will help them in falling asleep quickly.

Remove distractions and excitement at bedtime. Turn off music, television, action games and end brisk activities.

Avoid bright lights including computer screens. These things signal the brain it is daytime and make settling down to sleep more troublesome.

Make the bedroom fun and inviting for your kids. Fill the room with things that reflect your kids personality and personal preferences. Give them input on the colours, and decor. A fun idea is to get a bedding set with their number one sports team or cartoon character on it. These things make the bedroom an exciting, positive place and it will not be nearly as much of a struggle to get them to go there at night.

If your child gets up after being put to bed, return them to their room or ignore their calls unless serious. Positive reinforcement of this activity leads to negative habits. It can be hard not to respond to your kid crying for you, however if you continue to respond they will do it more frequently to drag out bedtime.

Limit sugar and caffeine intake before bedtime. Permitting kids to consume stimulants like these will make your job harder. Best practice is to avoid anything with caffeine or sugar after dinner/dessert is over. Stick to snacks that are low in sugar and not heavy.

Indulge child in things which make them more at ease at bedtime such as a night light, or leaving the door open a crack to let light in, and playing soft music in the background. Your kids won’t sleep if they are scared so it’s vital to put them at ease if you don’t want to be called to their room several times a night.

Give them something snug to snuggle. Kids often feel isolated at bed time. Giving them a favorite pillow, blanky, stuffed animal or doll can help.

Get a little rest yourself! When you’re well rested, the house is a more happy, more relaxed place. Try your own bedtime routine. After putting the children to bed avoid playing loud music, TV or having guests over late into the night.

Pamela Noble writes helpful articles on common household topics for Boyho.net . You can find additional information on boy’s bedding and girl’s bedding on the Boyho web site.