😴 How to do a Sleep Tune-up (Spring Edition)
With the craziness of our days, it's more important than ever that we're all getting as much good sleep as possible. A guide for grown ups and kids to find ways, big and small, to get betters sleep.
👋 Intro
The seasons are changing, daylight savings is beginning (Sunday!), stress and unsustainability persist, and everyone needs good sleep more than ever. While there is no hard and fast rule about how much each child or adult should sleep, sleep tends to get disrupted when we experience changes, and not getting as much sleep as our bodies are used to can have consequences for attention, memory, mood, and health. Sleep deprivation is the “broken water pipe” that will seep down into every crack, and of course it’s when we are most in need of better sleep that we don’t have the energy to get it! Let us make it easy (or easier) for you.
💡Sleep Tune-Ups 101
🧘🏽♀️ Manage Expectations: Remember that it’s normal for kids to regress in their sleep habits right now - they may need more comfort from you or be thrown off by a lack of structure.
🤺 Pick Your Battles: Think about which sleep practices are really having an impact on you and your family, and which ones can probably slide for a bit (eg. effect of screens vs alcohol or a bath vs. meditation).
🧼 Don’t Forget Sleep Hygiene: Even if this phrase makes you cringe, small, consistent habits around sleep can have a big impact. Go through a sleep hygiene checklist to remind yourself what good sleep routines look like (we share one below).
🐌 Start Small: If you are trying to change some sleep practices, don’t go cold turkey. For example, if you feel you’re going to bed too late, try winding down 15 minutes earlier tonight.
🛌 Give Your Bedrooms A Once-Over: Our physical sleep set-up can have a big impact. Take a moment to think about your sleeping space and talk to your kids (even young ones) about how comfortable they are in their beds and what keeps them awake or helps them relax.
⏰ Prepare for A Time Change: When we wake up on March 14th, our clocks will “spring forward” an hour, taking an hour from our sleep that night and making the evenings lighter and the mornings a bit darker. Starting now, start bedtime 10-15 minutes earlier each night so kids aren’t up until midnight Sunday (but prepare for this - they will adjust).
✨Your Options
☝️ 1. One Small Thing.
Change one small thing about bedtime. Start it 10 minutes earlier, add a 5 minute guided meditation for you and/or the kids, or store phones outside of the bedroom. It may be time to get a better pillow or softer sheets, find some ways to block out light and noise, or recommiting yourselves to some clean-up time so they aren’t sleeping on a bed full of Legos. Or, if there’s a bedtime routine that really isn’t working, try and make it just a little bit better each night. For example, if your kid will only fall asleep with you rubbing their back, start by rubbing their back for 5 minutes and then sitting next to them until they fall asleep, then gradually pull yourself further away each night until you feel good with the routine.
📝 2. Hygiene Review: Go through the sleep hygiene checklist with yourself and with your kids. You can have a family meeting where you share that everyone is needing to get some better sleep and that you’re working together to make some new goals. Pick one or two things each person wants to focus on this week. Be open to your kids ideas, even if they sound unlikely to work (“I want to sleep with a grown up pillow this week!) and then throw in your own (“ok, you can try a grown-up pillow, and how about we also try a night light instead of having your bright lamp on?”).
⏰ 3. Make a New Routine: Make a bedtime routine chart for your kid (and maybe secretly for you too). Add in some choice (“do you want to have a night light or no light?”). This doesn’t have to be fancy- you can grab a piece of paper and pen/crayons and use the starter list below. If you want, laminate the chart with clear packing tape and use a pen to check off each step with your child as they complete them. Post/place the chart somewhere visible and easy to find, like at the end of their bed. It won’t hurt to do this for yourself too, and your child might get a kick out of helping you with yours!
🧰 The Tools
✅ Sleep Hygiene Checklist (for the grown-ups):
I get daylight each day
I exercise regularly
I avoid caffeine after the morning
I avoid alcohol in the later evening
I only eat lightly before bed
My mattress, pillow and bedding are comfortable for me
I have a regular bedtime and wake up time
I keep naps under 20 minutes and in the early afternoon (adults)
I do 30 minutes of relaxing activities before bedtime
My bedroom is dark and quiet (with noise machine if not)
I turn off screens 1hr before bedtime
I keep electronic devices out of bedroom
I use my bed only for sleep or sex
If I’m awake in the night for more than 20 minutes, I get out of bed and do a relaxing activity with low-light (no screens) before getting back in bed when sleepy
🧘🏽♀️ 10 Min family Sleep Meditation:
📝 Personal Bedtime Routine Chart
Pick the ones right for your family and make it an activity with the kiddos - handwrite the steps and draw or print/cut out images that are specific for your family (eg. pics of favorite pyjamas and books)
🧹 Clean Up
💻 Turn Off Electronics
🦷 Brush Teeth
🚽 Use Bathroom
🛀 Wash Face or Bath/Shower
👕 Put on Pyjamas
📚Read Stories/ Read to Self
🎶 Songs/ Turn on Music
😴 Lights Out
🧐 Worth Reading/Watching:
The Wirecutter’s Sleep Week Articles on Everything from the Best Mattress to How to use smart lights to get your kids to go to bed and How to Make Sleeping Together Suck Less
Tips for Better Sleep Hygiene and Making Your Bedroom More Comfortable
Tricks to Help your Kids Fall Asleep, Especially for Sensory Sensitive Kids
Matt Walker’s Entertaining but Somewhat Disturbing Ted Talk on Why Sleep is Important