If you are a parent you’ve probably faced bedtime struggles with your kids at least once by now. We all know how hard it can be to put young children to bed, especially around rough transition periods like the birth of a sibling or the start of school. Kids fight sleep, take time to wind down, or sometimes struggle with fears and anxiety during that last part of the day when things get quiet.
Bedtime is a time when children crave more connection and love compared to any other time of day. But, tell that to a tired parent who has held the child through tears and tantrums through the day and now wants their child to shut their eyes and sleep.
Related reading: Damaging things parents say to kids.
We’ve struggled a lot with bedtime too, all of the deepest life concerns my children have seem to appear out of the blue when it is time to switch off the lights. And while I appreciate them opening up to me and wanting my opinion on things, 9 p.m. was not working for me to now turn to a life coach.
So, I figured I could tweak our bedtime routine to provide some of that reassurance, love, and connection my child is looking for, but not have bedtime turn into a longer counseling session. We can keep that for another time in the day.
Here is what worked for our family,
Positive bedtime affirmations.
Now you may ask,
DO BEDTIME AFFIRMATIONS WORK FOR KIDS?
Yes, they do. A good time to start would be around age 5 when the child is coming into his/her own, knows the context of things, and understands how to use the affirmations to relax and soothe oneself for bed.
HOW TO USE BEDTIME AFFIRMATIONS FOR KIDS
After trying a few things, what worked for our family was a nighttime prayer followed by bedtime affirmations.
Affirmations put the control back into the child’s hands giving them the much-needed belief in their body and sleep needs.
Through affirmations, the child imbibes the values of gratitude from an early age, which helps develop a positive mindset.
Bedtime affirmations also became the starting point for me to let go and trust my son’s process. It made our bedtime routine much smoother in the long run.
Here are 10 bedtime affirmations we use on the regular.
- My body knows how to get rest.
- I grow my brain when I sleep.
- I am calm and rested.
- I am loved and this is my spot of peace.
- Today I did my very best, now it is time to rest.
- I am grateful for my family and life.
- I am filled with deep restful sleep.
- I am at peace.
- Tomorrow will be a better day. (for rough days)
- Thank you for the amazing day, now I can sleep peacefully.
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Have you tried bedtime affirmations for kids? Try these affirmations for a month and see how they change your child’s bedtime routine for the better.