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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.

A bedtime routine helps to regulate children’s body clocks and aids relaxation, leading to a good night’s sleep. Trying a new bedtime routine might worsen sleep patterns 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.

Make sure your child only uses their bed for sleep in order to associate it with relaxation and a pre-bedtime ritual such as reading a book, rather than homework, gaming or playing with toys, for example.

Avoid using your child’s bed for time-out, or they’ll learn to associate it with punishment.

Cortisol is a hormone that 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.

These fears are very normal and usually start showing up around the age of two. The reason for this is that a toddler’s mind is maturing, their memory is getting longer, and their imagination continues to develop. They are starting to become more aware that there are things that can hurt them. They may have even watched a show or read a book that frightened them.