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<\/p>\nEver have a child that developed sleep problems from being anxious at bedtime? It\u2019s frustrating, I know. Even worse is that anything you do or say doesn\u2019t seem to help calm the child\u2019s fears. I went through it with my own child. He\u2019d get all worked up at bedtime because that was when he was alone with all of his thoughts and worries. His imagination went wild!<\/p>\n
My husband and I would take turns going upstairs to let him know everything was all right, but that never seemed to do the trick. He\u2019d just be calling out for us again a few minutes later, and one of us would have to march right back up for the millionth time that night. Just let me watch my Grey\u2019s Anatomy in peace already!<\/p>\n
We all have some forms of anxiety and worries. It\u2019s natural! As adults, experience has taught us the skills we need to deal with our fears. However, children are still trying to make sense of this big scary world.<\/p>\n
Anything that emotionally arouses a child is going to make their fears worse. This just makes them more anxious, and the vicious cycle continues. Children also tend to have different fears at different stages of development. Young kids are often afraid of monsters and other imaginary creatures. Older kids are more likely to fear more real dangers, like being hurt, burglars or a natural disaster (Mindell, National Sleep Foundation, 2010).<\/p>\n
Luckily, there are things you can do to decrease anxiety at bedtime.<\/p>\n
First off, don\u2019t panic. Mild anxiety at a young age is NORMAL. It\u2019s not likely going to become a life long problem. Keep in mind they\u2019re just kids. Every day they\u2019re exposed to things that are scary to them. They hear things on the playground from older kids, see things on TV, or read things in books. While these may all seem fairly harmless, kids can misinterpret them and find them scary. I remember one day turning on the My Little Ponies cartoon for my three year old and it scared the daylights out of her! Yikes, sorry little munchkin!<\/p>\n
As a sleep consultant, I often get calls from parents because their child\u2019s healthy sleep habits have turned into bedtime battles with fear. Here are some tips to help decrease anxiety at bedtime:<\/p>\n
1. Normalize their fears <\/strong><\/p>\n Fears are normal, not silly. Help your child understand this. Just because they think something is true, doesn\u2019t mean it is.<\/p>\n 2. Empower them with skills<\/strong><\/p>\n 3. Be firm with bedtime routines<\/strong><\/p>\n Children need routine and structure to help them feel secure. A home full of chaos or little\/no predictability will only lead to more anxiety.<\/p>\n 4. Provide physical support<\/strong><\/p>\n Tell your child you will stay with them for 5 minutes while they try to sleep. When the 5 minutes are up, say you\u2019ll check on them in 15 minutes, to help reassure them they\u2019re not alone. Do not start sleeping with them as this will just create more problems.<\/p>\n 5. Praise, praise, praise<\/strong><\/p>\n In the morning, give them praise for doing so well. Even if they struggled, let them know you\u2019re proud of them for trying so hard. Sticker reward charts work great too. If they get 5 stickers for working hard on their fears, you all can have a movie night (or whatever you feel is a good reward)!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Remember, anxieties and fears will come and go throughout the years. The skills you teach your child to decrease anxiety at bedtime now will get adapted\u00a0as they go through childhood, teen age years and adulthood\u2014skills that will last a lifetime.<\/p>\n Here’s to sleeping well!<\/p>\n Anxieties and fears will come and go throughout the years. The skills you teach your child to decrease anxiety at bedtime now will get adapted as they go through childhood, teen age years and adulthood\u2014skills that will last a lifetime.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1409,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n
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