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The following advice is only recommended for children who are over the age of 12 months.

Body temperature fluctuates during the day. Your child’s body temperature will peak late afternoon and then start to drop in the evening. About two hours before bed, core body temperature lowers, which signals to the brain that it’s time to fall asleep. This lowering of body temperature kickstarts melatonin production, which is the hormone that helps your child to fall asleep.

Cortisol is a hormone, which is raised during times of stress and makes us feel alert and awake. It naturally reduces at night so that we can sleep. If your child is anxious at bedtime, their cortisol levels will be raised, and they will find it difficult to sleep. Please see our “Anxiety and fear” advice sheet for more information and try the relaxation techniques below.

Effects of noise during sleep

To get the sleep that your child needs, it’s important to protect their sleep environment against unwanted sounds for the duration of their night’s rest.

Noise at night can prevent your child from falling asleep initially, and sounds during the night can wake them, leaving them unable to return to sleep.

While your child sleeps, the sleeping brain continues to register and process sounds. Noises can create restlessness in sleep even if they don’t wake your child fully, and these interruptions affect sleep quality.

Sleep Terrors (also called Night Terrors) and Nightmares are often thought to be the same thing when in fact, they are quite different. Nightmares are more common than Sleep Terrors but neither will cause any long-term psychological harm to your child.

How much light your child is exposed to before bedtime and in their bedroom itself can have a significant impact on how well they sleep as light disrupts their circadian rhythm and tells their body it is time to stay awake and alert. However, your child’s sleep isn’t just affected by light levels in their bedroom, but also by light levels during the day.

Food and drink that your child consumes throughout the day, and especially in the evening, can have an impact on how well they settle to sleep. Caffeine and sugar both impact sleep quality and can cause more frequent night wakings.

People sleep significantly better and feel more alert during the day if they get at least 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity a week. Exercise is beneficial to both physical and mental health and increases your child’s need for sleep. 

The relationship between exercise and sleep is a reciprocal one. It’s easier for your child to sleep when they have been active, and it’s easier to be active after a good night’s sleep.

A bedtime routine helps to regulate children’s body clocks and aids relaxation, leading to a good night’s sleep. Often, when trying a new bedtime routine, sleep patterns get worse before they get better. Consistency is important and we advise sticking to the new routine for at least two weeks before you start to see some positive changes.

Below is an example of a bedtime routine for a child whose bedtime is 8:15pm.