Matter-of-Course Obstacles to Your Child’s Sleep

Restlessness can be a daunting prospect for several people. After a tiring day at the workplace, people look forward to a sound night’s sleep. Studies have shown that weary minds and tired bodies will seldom be productive. Hence, if you attend work in a fatigued frame of mind, getting through the day can be exceedingly difficult. Thus, when the day ends, you could find yourself looking forward to a sound night’s sleep. A restless night in these circumstances could be your worst nightmare. Watching the clock ticking the hours can increase your irritation, grumpiness and fatigue.

If a disturbed sleep is problematic for grownups, it is even worse for infants and babies. If grownups fail to sleep properly, they will seldom strive to disturb the sleep of their spouses or partners. However, babies and small children are not as considerate. If they find it hard to doze off, the fondest of parents could end up rueing their luck – or lack of it. It can be very hard to placate a cranky child. If your child happens to throw a tantrum on the very day you badly need some rest, you can rest assured (pun unintended) that sleep will be hard for you to come by.

There are several underlying causes behind why infants and babies find it hard to get sleep in the night. The good news is that you can easily control many of these hindrances to your child’s sleep. In many cases, parents often make mistakes that drive them crazy later. Oftentimes, simple alterations to your child’s sleep routine can yield great results. The most common mistakes parents make include:

• Bedtime Routine Neglect: Sometimes, parents believe that babies do not need a bedtime routine. After all, what does a baby know about routines, right? Wrong. However, incorporating a sequence of calming activities like a bath, a book reading session and a lullaby can be beneficial. These activities, when repeated, work like cues helping your child to wind down for the day.
• Irregular Behaviour: Occasionally, parents will pamper their kids when the infants find it hard to sleep. Thus, they will either sleep with the kids or let the kids sleep with them. This results in the children making a habit of creating problems when they find it difficult to sleep. Therefore, set the guidelines and encourage your children to sleep in their own room. In exceptional circumstances, you can relax the rule. However, do not let the exception become the norm.
• Late Bedtimes: Prescribe regular bedtimes for your kids. An extra 15-20 minutes of sleep will not aggravate the situation. However, irregular or late bedtimes could lead to a deprivation of rest. Consequently, children will feel tired and irritated. Doctors suggest that:
• Babies need about 12 hours of sleep
• Pre-schoolers need 13 hours of sleep (if they do not take a nap during the day)
• Older kids can manage with 10-11 hours of sleep
• Overuse of Movement/Motion: You might notice that a drive in the car can help your child doze off quickly. The idea might appeal to you so much that you incorporate the habit in your child’s sleeping routine. However, this can be counterproductive. Motion-induced sleep will not give kids the deeper or restorative sleep they need. Hence, stick to calmer activities like lullabies or baths to get the child to relax. However, using motion to calm a cranky child is a different matter altogether.

Another common cause of cranky infants is a fear of the darkness. Generally, smaller children will not have fertile imaginations to visualise monsters out to harm them. However, as children grow, they might need something to keep their fears of the dark at bay. Among baby accessories, giving them kid’s lamps or kid’s night lights can be the best way to remedy this. This is why many parents prefer using the giimmo kid’s night lights for their safety and ease of use.

A giimmo night light has been among the best children’s gifts or baby gift ideas since 2006. These lights provide a calming influence with their plethora of colours, thereby helping to placate troubled kids. These lights emit a gentle kaleidoscopic glow, sufficient to dispel the darkness and yet not make sleep hard to come by. These characteristics make them the giimmo night light a perfect gift for the baby to get that much-needed sleep. Soothed by the constant change in colour, babies will fall asleep easily, thereby giving their parents a much-needed rest too. Giimmo night lights are perfect kid’s gifts. To know more about our range of products, you could call us at 02 8206 2444.