Early to Bed Early to Rise!!!

Those of you that know me know that I am a big time SLEEP ADVICIT!!!! I have always felt that, kids need their sleep…of course so do ADULTS!!

The amount of sleep a child needs varies depending on the individual and the age of the child.

Following are some general guidelines:

1-4 Months Old: 14 - 15 hours per day
4-12 Months Old: 14 - 15 hours per day
1-3 Years Old: 12 - 14 hours per day
3-6 Years Old: 10 - 12 hours per day
7-12 Years Old: 10 - 11 hours per day
12-18 Years Old: 8 - 9 hours per day

In order for your children to get enough sleep, you need to…YES!!! BE ORGANIZED!! Have your days planned out. For example my family has always gotten up at 6:00am. So my 2 littlest ducklings go to bed between 6 and 6:30pm. My 10 year old is in bed by 7:30 and my 15 year old is in bed by 9:30.

Here is the trick to getting kids to sleep at a reasonable hour…

Consistency – This is the most important part. If you want them to be tired at a certain time, you need to get them to go to sleep at that same time EVERY NIGHT. Otherwise they won’t be tired at that time.

Have a Routine – If you are going to be putting your younger children to bed without a fight, you need to have a set routine that you do every night. For example, they know that when you read stories, and put on the same music, it means bed time. Just completing the steps of this bedtime routine will help them start to shut down their body and get sleepy.

Leave before they are asleep – This will help them learn that when they are in their bed or in their crib, they can always put themselves to sleep and back to sleep by themselves just fine.
PLEASE, for your kids sake… put them to sleep early so they aren’t tired and cranky during the day. This is a bonus for you...A NICE QUIET RELAXING EVENING FOR YOU!!! Or better yet some more free time to get MORE ORGANIZED!!!!