Hooray, Summer is finally here for my kids. All year long I had to drag their little bum’s out of bed at 7am to get ready for school.  Finally they can sleep in. Yipee!  Yeah, whatever. My kids had no such plans.  5:45AM!  I’m not exagerating! They were up at 5:45AM.  It’s Saturday, AND its’s summer! Come on kids, when are you going to start valuing the sleep-in days. When are you going to be those kids that sleep till 11:00am every day.  I won’t complain, I promise.

Kids need sleep.  Between ages 5-12 they need 10-11 hours per night.  When my kids don’t get enough sleep, they are moody, sensitive, cranky, argumentative etc.  But they have always been good sleepers. In fact, I used to tell people “My kids have always slept through the night… since they were 3 months old!” Till one day I told someone that, and my husband said, “They don’t sleep through the night, you just don’t wake up when they do.”  I sleep so soundly at night, I don’t even wake up when our kids do.  We had them in a basket in our room until they were three months, which is why I DID wake up when they did, and as soon as they went to their own rooms, I slept straight through their midnight waking.  I’m guessing they just started sleeping through the  night, cause no one was there to answer their cries.  Part of me feels like a bad parent, but part of me is glad they are such good sleepers now.

So, as a result, I can offer no advice on getting your child to sleep better, except advice I’ve heard from other people. 

1. Follow a bedtime routine.
2. Wind down by listening to wonderful lullaby music.
3. Go to sleep at the same time every night.
4. Limit caffeine in the afternoon and before bed.
5. Do not allow the bedroom to be a place for television.
6. As we spoke about Thursday, if they need a bedtime snack, let it be a small amount of complex carbs.
7. Keep them really active during the day, so they will be wiped out at bedtime.  (This is what we do)

READER ADVICE???