How to Maintain Your Child’s Sleep Routine During the Holiday Season

A lack of sleep for both you and child could mean everyone is feeling a bit cranky and tired on the big day. With a bit of careful preparation, you can try and prevent a situation where your little one is hanging off the bannisters refusing to go to sleep whilst you are trying to finish some last minute party preparation or present wrapping.

Get Active

However excited your child may be about the Autumn and Winter festivities, a day full of fun, holiday-themed activities will mean that they will not be able to fight the urge to sleep come the evening. Getting out and about in the fresh air will help to tire them out much more effectively than watching Halloween or Christmas films all day. You may wish to start your own tradition of going on a big family walk in the woods, encouraging the children to hunt out some fire wood for the Bonfire, or pine cones for the Christmas table decorations. Even just a trip to the park or your local swimming pool will help expend some excess energy.

Avoid reaching the ‘over tired’ stage

No child wants to go to bed on the evening before Halloween, Bonfire Night, Christmas or New Years, and probably won’t admit to being tired even if they are falling asleep on their feet. They may feel like they are missing out by heading to bed before everyone else, especially if you have guests staying. However, once they pass the tiredness stage and become over-tired, we all know what that can bring. Look out for signs of tiredness and aim to get them to bed before the hyper behaviour and tantrums begin as that can make the chances of them sleeping even less likely.

Stick to your routine

It is easier said than done, but try to stick to your child’s usual routine. Once your little one has broken up from school, bedtimes can easily slip back an hour or so. Whilst this may not seem to cause much of an issue on any other day, it can make getting them to sleep at a reasonable hour on the night before an exciting occasion even more difficult. Follow their normal bedtime routine as much as you can, whether that is a bath or a couple of bedtime stories, so despite their excitement, they will be relaxed and ready for bed.

Even if you are staying away from home, these usual bedtime rituals will act as cues that it is time for sleep. Bring some familiar bedding and toys with you, which will help them to settle despite being in an unfamiliar location.

Avoid over stimulation

From Halloween candy, to fireworks, Christmas music, films and games, the build up to these exciting holidays brings with them a lot of additional stimuli that can hype your child up and make it a lot more challenging to get them to bed come the evening. Whilst all of these things are what makes the holidays what they are, try to limit how much your child is exposed to at the same time.

As much as children will be excited for the holidays, sometimes spooky Halloween decorations, noisy fireworks or even the thought of a man coming down the chimney and into their bedroom may frighten them and prevent them from nodding off. With a little reassurance from mum and dad, and moving any scary decor or Christmas stockings to the living room, this should hopefully mean your little one is more relaxed about going to sleep.

Finally, as a last resort, a bit of good old-fashioned bribery may do the trick. After all, Santa only visits when you are fast asleep!