Putting an End to Quarantine Sleep Struggles

When the pandemic hit and my family started what I have since dubbed “quarantine life”, it never occurred to me that a reasonable toddler bedtime would join the other aspects of normal life that flew out the window. In retrospect, it makes sense. Pretty much every other aspect of our daily routines had changed (wakeup time, daily activities, dinner time…) and it was only natural that in the end, that affected bedtime. My toddler, who used to go to bed at 7:30 like clockwork, was staying up until 10 or 10:30 most nights. Not only was the quality of everyone’s sleep affected, but I was finding myself with zero downtime at night and was exhausted from trying to do it all every day, all day.

Many of us thought that quarantine would be over by now *raises hand* but find ourselves still in the unknown with many schools going virtual, childcare closures, or, you know, just because the pandemic is still happening!

This combination of schedule changes, more time at home, and a general feeling of unknown has led to a lot of parents struggling with late bedtimes, bed time and naptime battles, and more than usual night wakings (all of which can be related, by the way!). In response to this, I have some suggestions to help regain some sleep sanity in your household.

1.       Start the day with an early morning walk. Exposure to morning light sets your child up to be tired for naps and bedtime, aka sleep success. Bonus: it’s a great way to get out some energy and spend some time quality time together before the craziness of the day begins. Positive quality time will help reduce your child’s anxiety and keep them from battling naptime or bedtime in order to get more time and attention from you then.

2.       Create a routine. You don’t have to keep the exact routine that you had prior to quarantine, but create a new one and try your best to stick to it. Try to eat meals at regular times, have scheduled outdoor time, scheduled downtime, etc. One thing you should try to keep as similar to pre-quarantine life as possible is the bedtime routine. If you used brush teeth, put on pajamas, then cuddle and read two books: keep doing that! Also, I know that many of us have shifted our schedules a bit later since we aren’t commuting or getting ready for in-person school, but try your best to keep little one’s bedtime at no more than an hour later than it used to be. For most toddlers I suggest a usual bedtime no later than 8:30 pm. An overtired child is going to be much more difficult to put to bed than a just tired enough one.

3.       Connect and relax together. Even very young kids can pick up on the stress and anxiety we are feeling around certain topics. There’s no need to discuss the professional, financial, or health concerns that you have as adults, and in fact doing so may cause them to feel anxiety as well (and a side affect of that may well be sleep issues). While we want our kids to have age appropriate understandings of world issues, knowing about large problems that they have no control over is letting too much “adult” world into their kid worlds, and they are already dealing with plenty of stress and change.

4.       Limit evening screen time. Screen time affects melatonin and should be avoided for at least an hour before bedtime. Of course screen time is a necessity for many parents right now, but I would suggest using it when you need it earlier in the day (e.g., during the work day) and putting your child to bed a little earlier at night so that you can still have your own “me time”, no evening screens required.

5.       Remind yourself that you are doing the best you can! Times are difficult for many of us; we are dealing with a lot of unknowns and are in uncharted territory. Don’t be hard on yourself if you don’t follow your routine, end up giving more screen time than you hoped one day, or felt stressed in your interactions with your kids. Tomorrow is a new day, and it’s your unconditional love for your little ones that is felt day in and day out, and what they will remember from this time.

If you don’t already have a solid bedtime routine in place, I suggest creating one that can become a source of consistency and normalcy during this time. My bedtime routines tip sheet helps you create a proven bedtime routine that helps your child wind down their activity level, includes additional bedtime tips, and includes a printable for you to use to keep everyone on the same page. If you’d like it, click below: