Bedtime Rituals

It is a nightmare for all parents and that too pretty much at the end of a tiring day to put their little ones to sleep in the night! After taking a good afternoon nap, babies are very energetic in the evening and as the day draws close to the end they somehow derive magical energy and curiosity to be active, thus putting the whole experience of putting them to sleep a big stressful evening ritual. Every parent at one time or the other will look forward to develop a set of bedtime rituals to set the right mood and ambiance for their little ones to prepare their mind to call it a day and put those active little brains smoothly into slumber!

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Instead of following a random, unpredictable set of practices every night, it is wise to follow an easy and fun set of predictable bedtime rituals that will keep them entertained, relaxed, and most importantly give them enough clues saying 'Yo! It's sleepy time. Keeping all this in mind, it becomes very important to plan a set of fun and interactive bedtime activities that is guaranteed to work on a consistent basis to make it all soothing. This blog post is all about my idea of fun bedtime rituals to put the baby to sleep in a most relaxed and comforting way for a good peaceful night's sleep!

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The foremost important step in all this would be to set a fixed time to sleep and that should not be compromised for any reason. The entire process of bedtime activities should start approximately one hour before the actual time we intend them to go to sleep. For this, the first ritual is to gently distract them from their active source of entertainment like Television, Computer or Video games and get them involved in a much relaxed no brainer sort of entertainment. The cues should be strong enough for them to realize it is going to be fun even when they are away from their most lovable entertainment systems. One can just start with a quiet and easy game like peekaboo to distract them initially and get them to the bedroom.

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Then silently hide a toy or an object in the bedroom for them to hunt around. This activity will make them forget what they were doing earlier and let them concentrate on only one thing i.e to find that object! Later when they manage to find the object, raise their curiosity immensely by promising them an interesting story involving that object if they cooperate for a brushing session! Silently sneak in the activity of brushing their teeth, which is very important for their health reasons. Along with it complete their potty time for a stress free night and dress them up in a comfortable pajama to prepare for the night. The best part about each of these activities is that it is slowing sending them signals to go to bed even while they are eagerly awaiting that 'interesting bedtime story' without actually getting diverted by other entertainment around.

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Once they get to the bed and willing to listen, build an interesting story around the object to drive their imaginations to a faraway fairyland. Involve them as a character so they can associate things personally in the story in a much interactive way. This activity will slowly develop their concentration skills and can also double as a base for their dream for that night. Slowly as they grow many knowledgeable stories can be fed into their brains smoothly this way. When their imaginations are already diverted to the fancy land, they are perfectly relaxed and more than ready to hit the bed and sleep!

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Following such fun bedtime rituals on a consistent basis will slowly develop discipline in them to peacefully prepare for the night and also develop many healthy practices without them actually realizing it in a much stressful way!

This post is a part of IndiBlogger Happy Hours topic "Bedtime Rituals", an initiative by Pampers. Check out more information about Pampers and their initiative here. Also check out this video -