The biggest surprise in children’s sleep

The biggest surprise in children’s sleep

Most parents get surprised when they realize this about children and sleep.

Is bedtime often turning into a nightmare in your family? Have you tried everything, and your child still doesn’t want to sleep? Is it driving you crazy? Is it hard for you to be the kind of parent you wish you could be around bedtime?

Bedtime routines are challenging in many families

When our bedtime routines aren’t working out, we as parents often get worried, frustrated and even angry before, during and after bedtime. It is so exhausting to deal with children who won’t sleep night after night. Especially when it is obvious that the child needs to sleep more to get through the day.

When the child finally sleeps, the only energy left for many parents is used to fall into the couch completely exhausted. The adult time after a tough bedtime scenario begins in a bad mood often mixed with a feeling of guilt. Because parenting wasn’t supposed to be like this! This is not what we dreamed of. An ongoing nightmare at bedtime is not what we intended to create for our loved ones. Deep inside we wish things could be different.

Our body is so incredible intelligent – and much more than we give it credit for. We “think” we can “think” a new solution – and meanwhile our bodies hold the secret. You might be thinking that your child doesn’t want to sleep or can’t sleep. What if I told you that it has much more to do with you and your energy than your child? 

Ready to help you child sleep?

The secret to a bedtime routine full of love is to find your inner “energy switch” in your own body. As humans, we communicate in many other ways than just words. Our energy plays a big role in our communication with our children. Many parents are so much attached to their way of thinking, that they forget other natural ways of communicating for instance with energy. Your child is mirroring you. If you are stressed out, angry and tired it makes it much harder for your child to find inner peace.

Children have not moved all their attention into their brains yet. They are still in “Heartland”, and they are much more aware of their bodies. Children tend to understand energy better than adults and they sense much more than we adults in “Brainland” understand. In fact our children are master detectives of our energy and you CAN’T hide your moods from the energy champs.

It is all about us! 

As parents, we need to become conscious of our energy, so we can help our children, and let them get to know their own energy. Even though they sense and understand a lot about energy, they are still in the process of getting to know how to handle their own energy.

All your thoughts, words, feelings and expectations come out as energies that affect your child from birth – even from conception. Your child is a master detective in tracking and sensing your energy.

Maybe you’ve tried to put a smile and say something like, “Come on honey, we are going to visit my sweet aunt and it is going to be so much fun,” while your heart is pounding inside of you, you start to sweat and your mind is full of concern about the visit, which you yourself dread.

Your child doesn’t buy your smile and quick words. Your child knows you so well and you can’t hide how you feel for your children. This goes for bedtimes as well. So if you feel anxious about the bedtime – your child will react to your anxious energy as well. If you battle up to be ready for bedtime your child will sense that. If you feel too exhausted for bedtime – your child will sense that as well etc.

The trick is to become aware of your mood and energy, and switch it to a loving, caring energy before bedtime.

The biggest surprise when it comes to parenting at bedtime for the many parents I teach is – that it has so much more to do with us than with the kid.

Ready to learn how? Read the next blog: 

The first thing we need to talk about is regular bedtime routines.