Nothing beats a good night’s sleep, especially for young developing kids. Having a good night’s sleep gives children the strength to wake up feeling refreshed and with enough energy to tackle the day ahead.
However, just sleeping isn’t enough, and parents have to ensure that their children are good sleepers. When parents create a restful environment and promote good habits, the child can learn to sleep well.
Although you may want to co-sleep with your kids, it’s great to train them to sleep without parental involvement. When children learn to self-soothe, they’ll be on the right track of learning to sleep independently.
The main problem that parents face is making their little ones crave sleep. Bedtime might be a nightmare if your child doesn’t feel comfortable sleeping in their room. As a result, creating a space that feels safe, comfortable, and cozy will ease bedtime routines.
But how can you make your children’s bedroom evoke the feeling of sleep? As discussed in this article, you can take different steps to create a sleep sanctuary for your kids. These tips will guide you in creating a warm, calm, and cozy environment that’s perfect for your little one.
Get Comfortable Beddings
For children’s bedrooms, go for soft and fluffy bedding to ensure they maintain coziness. First, choose a mattress with sufficient support and is a memory foam mattress. It should be hypoallergenic to avoid attracting insects and dirt.
In addition, this mattress should be medium to firm to allow for spinal alignment and should contain cooling properties to stabilize the child’s temperature. Another important bedding is the throw blanket that keeps your child’s legs warm, especially when the duvet falls off.
Kids’ pillows are very versatile as they can act as decorations or as support during sleeping. As a result, investing in a good quality stomach sleeper pillow won’t let your baby’s head sink all the way and prevents any neck pain. If you don’t know how to appropriately use this type of pillows, you can check out this video for further instructions:
As for the duvet, go for a wool-filled option that’ll keep your kid warm in the winter and cool in the warmer seasons. This duvet option has been proved to increase the amount of sleep, making it perfect for a comfy night’s rest.
Choose Soothing Colors
Colors play a major role in creating a soothing environment for kids, especially in their bedrooms. Not only does it boost the theme of the room in general, but it can also boost a child’s development.
Subdued colors like light pink and baby blue will always create a soothing environment and are perfect for your kid’s room; however, if you want to try other colors rather than sticking to traditional pink and blue, soft neutrals are the right choice.
When choosing colors, avoid bright contrasting colors that may overstimulate a child. In addition, patterns of different sizes and designs may make the room look busy. You can opt for more earthy colors that evoke the feeling of being grounded.
Make Different Zones
A chaotic room will evoke a feeling of anxiety in kids, especially during bedtime. Creating zones will keep the child’s room organized and introduce clear areas for specific tasks vital for calming.
If the kid’s room is smaller, you can utilize baskets and place-specific things accessible for your kid. For instance, you can collect all the toys into one corner to ensure that the child acknowledges it as a play area.
By allocating one side for one task, the child will know where toys should be kept to avoid clutter. In addition, you can incorporate your child’s interests in the zones, such as a reading corner that’ll have books and a cozy reading chair.
You can also include a crafts zone that’ll let your child enjoy the joy of arts and crafts while exploring their interest even further. By creating zones, your child won’t feel overwhelmed by many things going on in the room.
Control The Light, Temperature, and Noise
Bedrooms are for resting after a long tiring day, making it a high-priority room. To create a perfect space, you’ll need to control the amount of light, noise level, and temperature to perfection.
Bedrooms should have natural light during the day, but sleeping can be quite hard for kids. Children tend to be sensitive to changes in light levels, making it perfect for keeping the room dark.
To prevent light from getting into the room during the early morning, you can get blackout curtains. In addition, any prevention of light will boost melatonin prod, which makes the kid fall and stay asleep.
Having total silence when the baby is asleep is hard to control, especially with unexpected guests ringing the doorbell, cars on the road, and much more happening around. It doesn’t mean that a child can’t enjoy a peaceful rest.
One way to get the child accustomed to background noise and sleep through it is by having conversations or watching tv since they are little. However, if your child is used to silence, you can invest in a white noise machine.
These machines incorporate great humming or whirling sounds that soothe the child’s sleep and eliminate noise pollution. Another great way to create a sleep haven is by ensuring the temperature is perfect.
As for the temperature, your child’s room should be between 20 to 22 degrees Celsius. Always avoid overdressing the younger ones for bed as it causes overheating. And by decreasing a child’s body temperature, you’ll be initiating sleepiness.
When the room temperature is low, the body needs to mimic the temperature keeping the child asleep. Remember to keep the calm room hours before bedtime. You can do this by avoiding overstimulation of your baby, like playing fun games, making it hard to fall asleep.
Involve Your Kids In Décor Decisions
Involving your kids in décor decisions is very important, especially for older kids who know what they like and want for their rooms. Your child will be able to express their personality and take the room to the level of comfort they enjoy.
However, when involving your kids, ensure that they understand that some decisions, such as wallpaper designs, can’t be altered after a short time. When choosing the décor, go for options that’ll grow with the children.
For instance, if you choose a duck-themed room because your child is obsessed with them at the moment, you’ll wake up two weeks later, and they’ll have moved on to something new. You’ll have to shoulder another renovation, making it expensive in the long run.
Consider A Night Light
Nightlights may be perfect for parents with younger children who need to be fed and changed at night. And even though it’s highly advised to keep the room pitch black to boost sleepiness, night light may come in handy for younger kids.
Younger children also tend to be scared of darkness if they wake you in the middle of the night. On the bright side, nightlights are versatile and provide more than lighting.
Most of them have built-in alarms and timers that help sleep train the child. Its light also illuminates facing the ceiling, which doesn’t shine directly on the child. Night lights are also beneficial when a child is potty training as they’ll provide enough light to get to the washroom safely.
Get The Right Furniture
The quality and color of the furniture will influence the space you create for your child. And when getting furniture, it needs to be safe, durable, comfortable, and functional. The furniture you choose should also grow together with the child.
And for a cozy and inviting space, it doesn’t need to be cluttered, making multi-functional furniture the better option. Especially for smaller kids, you’ll be able to get furniture choices that can fit one purpose when they are young and another after they’ve outgrown.
Furniture pieces like a bed, the most important, should be tailor-made for your child’s needs. It should be big enough to ensure lots of space that won’t restrict your child when choosing the bed.
If the child is older, you can choose from different options, including single beds, bunk beds, high sleepers, and mid sleepers. If you are limited in space, and your kids share a room, bunk beds are the best to utilize space.
One important thing to consider when buying a bed is incorporating the design that fits the space’s theme. It should also be a size that fits the mattresses in the market without leaving gaps that may be dangerous for little kids.
Keep It Simple
A simple room for kids can create comfort as they won’t feel suffocated with too many things. Keeping the room simple will reduce the amount of clutter, which makes kids anxious. Your children will enjoy a peaceful space that keeps them calm enough to get enough sleep.
Keeping a room simple also helps make the cleaning process easy. A clean room will prevent diseases caused by dust. When a child sleeps in a clean room, they’ll have an easier time breathing without worrying about allergies.
In addition, children can’t spend a long period cleaning after themselves. Thus, they need something simple that won’t take time. By maintaining a simple room, children will enjoy picking up after themselves to create a calm atmosphere. You can also include your kids in the cleaning routine, giving them little tasks they can enjoy.
Create A Routine
Getting children to sleep at certain times every single night will create a night routine that they’ll get used to in the long run. Coming up with and maintaining a night routine will help establish good sleeping habits where the child falls asleep and stays asleep all through the night.
Before coming up with a routine, consider your children’s needs and how it fits in with your schedule. Take time to create one by ensuring that your child understands that sleep is a priority and important in life.
When you get the required routine, ensure that it’s something that the kids can do consistently. Pick an appropriate time to go to bed and one for waking up. Your kids will get used to that time and won’t have any problem falling asleep at the right time and waking up without a problem.
The perfect routine will provide a good sense of security and control, making kids look forward to sleeping.
Incorporate Essential Oils
There is nothing quite like the soothing power of essential oils, especially regarding kids’ sleeping patterns. The properties of most essential oils have a way of creating a calm environment that’s instrumental in getting kids to sleep well.
These oils are versatile and can be used in different ways based on your likes. You can use them internally, aromatically, or topically in different options, including lavender roman chamomile, amongst many others.
For instance, you can use a diffuser and place it in the room before bedtime. Alternatively, you can place a few drops on the child’s pillow or warm milk they take before bed. Aromatherapy has reduced nausea, discomfort, and pain, making it perfect for kids.
The oils create calm in an anxious child and promote healthy sleep. If you choose to use it for your child, find a scent they love the most. This way, they’ll associate that smell with rest and bedtime, making it easy to keep them asleep all through the night.
You, however, have to use it in recommended amounts and don’t let your child ingest it as it can be dangerous. Be very clean with the diffuser by washing it regularly to keep it clean.
Bottom Line
When choosing the environment you want to give your kids, you should ensure comfort and create a sleep haven. Creating a safe place will boost the development of your child’s sleeping habits.
Take care of loud noises by placing a few felt pads that will soften the sounds of the door. Remember that a good night’s sleep for your kids will boost the immune system and is essential for general mental health. Building these good habits while they are young instills discipline and builds a good sleep routine as they grow older.
