Us parents have a lot of jobs, especially us mums. For that reason we need a lot of energy during the day, hence we need a good night’s sleep. This applies to our kids, too. If my son doesn’t get a good full night’s sleep, he is guaranteed to be grumpy by midday. As he is nearly five, he doesn’t take naps anymore, UNLESS we are in the car for longer than twenty minutes.
In May 2016 the Bath, Book and Bed campaign was launched with Jo Frost as the ambassador and spokesperson. This campaign was in fact created by Book Trust. The idea of it is, to encourage parents to read a story before bedtime and make this part of every night routine.
I am full on when it comes to routines. I have created a routine for both children from a very young age. I don’t think I could ever work without having a proper routine in place. Of course I am more flexible when we are going on holidays. But particularly when it’s during the week and they have a busy schedule at creche, routine is the key to a good night’s sleep.
Both kids are generally allowed to watch a bit of TV before we all go upstairs for 7pm. They generally have set bath time days. On these days we tend to go up a bit earlier. Shortly after our bath, we are off to get dried off, put on the pyjamas and brush teeth. Every night we read two stories before the kids are off to bed. Both kids now have a book shelf each in their room which they can pick a story from beforehand. Our ritual then is quick drink, kisses and off to bed. There is generally no fuss.
We were sent three lovely bedtime stories to help us along our routine every night. First one is “Hush-a-Bye-Bunny” by Holly Surplice. It states it’s from the age of 3 – 6 years but because there is not much writing on each page and lots of pictures, even my two year old is drawn to it. Another is “Good night Everyone” by Chris Haughton. A little bear is trying to get the attention of everyone to play with him but they are all fast asleep. The last one on the list is “Silver” by Walter de la Mare and Carolina Rabei. In a nutshell it is about a the moon displayed as a cat written in a lovely ryhme. All books can be found on the Book Trust website.
Be sure to download the booklet “Bath, Book, Bed: Simple steps to a better night’s sleep” for helpful tips from parenting expert Jo Frost, featuring Daddy Pig.
Disclaimer: We were sent a bundle of Peppa Pig goodies and books to spread the word about the Bed,Bath,Book campaign. As always thoughts are my very own.
we’ve done this with all three of ours since only a few months old and it works! They all know the routine and they wind down nicely 🙂