bedtime routine Archives - Dr Keira Moore, BCBA-D

I Don’t Wanna Go To Bed!!

Competing Activities at Bedtime Over the last few weeks, we’ve been looking at the four main causes of most sleep problems and how to fix them. We’ve talked about how to make sure you are tired at bedtime, setting up regular bedtime routines, and finding healthy sleep dependencies. The fourth big cause of many sleep problems for both adults and children is competing activities. This one might seem a little too obvious, but sleep isn’t the most fun or exciting thing in the world (especially for kids), so of course, if there are other more fun things to do at bedtime, we are likely to choose fun over sleep. For most adults, we at least recognize the importance of a good night’s sleep and understand the impact of our choices if we don’t get to bed on time, but many children don’t yet have the reasoning and planning skills required to make good decisions at bedtime, which makes choosing fun over sleep all the more tempting. Setting Limits at Bedtime One of the best ways to help your child at bedtime is to set clear and reasonable limits, make sure those limits are transparent, and stick to them. Make sure your child [...]

The Bedtime Routine: Your Key to Fixing Nighttime Chaos

The last few weeks we’ve been talking about the four main causes of sleep problems, and what you can do to fix them. This week we are going to focus on problem #2: chaos and unpredictability before bedtime. Not having a predictable bedtime routine can wreak havoc on sleep for both children and adults, but the good news is that it’s a pretty easy problem to fix! This week we will talk about why bedtime routines are important, and what makes a good bedtime routine. What is a bedtime routine? Bedtime routines are a set of consistent and predictable activities that lead up to what we call “behavioral quietude,” the brief time when you lay quietly and fall asleep. These routines act as a signal to your brain and body to start getting ready for sleep, helping you transition from wakefulness to slumber. Establishing a predictable bedtime routine helps you wind down and gets melatonin flowing, making you drowsy and helping you fall asleep faster. Last week we discussed how maintaining a regular sleep schedule is crucial for optimizing sleep. Going to bed and waking up at consistent times helps regulate the body's internal clock, aka the circadian rhythm. Combining a [...]