The Importance of a Good Sleep Routine

Our Sleep expert, Caroline Winter Sleep Nanny talks to us about the importance of a good sleep routine.

The majority of parents know that feeling – after a busy day, you settle your child down to sleep and after a bit of to-ing and fro-ing, they drift off. Hurray! Now it’s time for some ‘you time’ so you settle down to have some of the evening as a real, fully grown adult person with your own interests and thoughts.

And as soon as you do… your baby or child can be heard crying or calling your name.

Much is made about the importance of a good sleep routine for your child and their development. A lot of essential functions happen while your child sleeps, from repair to growth to simply maintaining a sense of well-being. As a parent, we are almost pre-programmed to put our child first at all times, but there always has to be a sense of balance. In order to be the best you can be for your child, you need to be physically and mentally well too.

There seems to be no fixed rule about which babies and children are born to be a good sleeper and which aren’t but establishing a good routine is at the very core of success. Whilst it may be tempting to go and see your child every time they make even the slightest of murmurs, doing so can create a downhill spiral of your child seeking and needing attention in order to settle. And while it may go against natural instincts to just ‘let your child be,’ doing so just may be the kindest thing you can do for them and yourself.

Another part of the success of sleep training is keeping to a set routine. You may feel that playing with them for an extra 10 minutes as you’re having fun means nothing, but as we all have an inbuilt clock, the slightest of deviations can cause an upset to the whole sleeping pattern.

Of course, there may be times when routines have to deviate, like during times of illness or holidays, but having firm in your mind that as soon as you can, you need to return to regular timeslots is key. It may seem like a small thing, but it truly is the secret to contentment