How Silly Stories Can Help Your Child Fall Asleep FasterÂ
So you’ve gone through your child’s bedtime routine, and now they’re in their bed, but you’ve suddenly realised, that they don’t seem completely tired, or they’re tense, and you’re worried it’s going to take them ages to get them to sleep.
Last night I was in this position, and when my daughter asked for another story, I said I would tell her a story. I told her about a day trip we had planned with some friends. I said we looked for a restaurant to have lunch in, and went in one and looked on the menu, and all the menu said was ”carrots, carrots, and more carrots.” She laughed at this. I then continued the story as they looked for another restaurant. They went in and looked at the menu, and it all it said was ”peas, peas, peas and more peas.” She laughed again.
I had the grown ups exclaim, ”Oh no! Not again! What is wrong with the restaurants in this town?” I drew out lots of dramatic tension by having them choose another restaurant, and say, ”okay lets try this one, I hope that doesn’t happen again.”
I repeated the game with all different restaurants, and different foods, until she told me, ”now I feel really really, tired.”
If you’re a regular reader of my blog you’ll know that laughter helps to release melatonin, the sleep hormone, so a few last minute giggles can be just what our child needs to fall asleep easily. Telling silly stories, especially ones where the grown-ups are in the less powerful role is one of many ways that laughter can be used to help your children fall asleep more quickly.
Sleep is a separation for children so they need to feel well-connected, and free of emotional upset in order to fall asleep easily. Hand in Hand parenting is all about helping children with the emotions that can make sleep hard.
Looking for more info? Check out 5 Sleep Secrets For Peaceful Nights. Hand in Hand parenting also has an online self-study sleep course. _1425162614.jpg)
Kate Orson, 
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