I wanted to share this with you, because I’ve been so amazed at the results.
Set the scene, three children to juggle at bedtime. Each has a 15 minute cuddle and story. Smallest Little, out like a light within 5 mins. Next, Middle Little – 15 minutes cuddle, story…moans for more time…asks for water/wee/hair up/ new pjs. (You get the picture?) Have to abandon so that Big Little has 15 mins cuddle and story. Meanwhile Middle Little is coming in to the bedroom, trying to think of any possible excuse not to go to sleep. Then screams the house down, totally buggering up my well-planned bedtime routine (and most importantly disrupting the others time alone with me at bedtime – which seems to be a desired outcome).
I can quite honestly say I was tearing my hair out at this point. The other two were knackered, grumpy, and fed up with having their alone time with Mummy derailed. Middle Little was refusing to wake up for school – at points we almost went to school in pjs. My ‘me’ time (ok, my clean the kitchen, sort the school bags/shoes/PE kit and then sit down, frazzled for half an hour and then go to bed time) was being impacted. Everyone was pretty fed up.
As I’m sure you know by now, Carly is my go-to friend for advice. She’s always got a suggestion (and sometimes tells me to stop being neurotic which also helps). So, we spoke at length about bedtime routines, and how things work in her house – she then suggested we give sleep meditation a go.
Now I’ll let you into a little secret. I bloody love meditation!! I’ve used it in times of self doubt to help calm my mind and strengthen my self belief, and I’ve also used it to help me sleep during a very difficult period of anxiety (not many people know that).
Of course, I cried, what a great idea! And off I popped to find myself some sleep meditation to try out on my Middle Little…
So, with the help of trusty Google, I found some sleep mediations on YouTube by New Horizon Holistic Centre UK. One was called ‘The Sleepy Sloth’ and had good thumbs up ratings (who doesn’t love a sloth?) so we gave it a go.
Firstly I approached the idea with Middle Little who seemed interested (particularly because it was on YouTube I suspect). We agreed to give it a try after her bedtime story. I pressed play (with trepidation) and laid with her for 15 mins. So far so good. Then I went in to see Big Little and read a story – uninterrupted. 15 minutes later, I went back in to a very sleepy, heavy eyed Middle Little. Quick kiss goodnight, tuck in, and off I went. Seemed a bit too good to be true!
I went downstairs and sat on the sofa (ready to jump up and go upstairs at any minute): that moment never came! Middle Little was fast asleep, and stayed asleep all night.
Night two, we did exactly the same thing – same result. Fast asleep! It’s been two weeks now, and even with a few days away in half term where they all shared a room (we played it on holiday too) and everyone went down to sleep like a dream.
I can’t promise it will work for you, but it’s been an absolute revelation for us! Add it in to your bedtime routine and see what happens. Let us know how you get on.
Sweet dreams, lovely people. Tahlia X
📸Photo credit: Unsplash
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