My children need a lot of sleep. Only they don't know about that. (Uh, like all of them kids, right?)
They don't know they need a lot of sleep and they make sure we know about that. For that they use stratagems like shouting, screaming, screeching, crying and the like.
Oh you have the same at home?
Well this article is for YOU, dear tired reader !
First things first.
When I was pregnant, I did a lot of reading. Not any reading but the kind of educational one. Books about pregnancy and how you can affect the future behaviour and even abilities of your baby ; books about raising children, giving them all the love they need and blah-blah-blah...
Later, when my first child was well born and trying to get rid of me (it seemed, and to know why, see here) I started to read books about how to stay in control of your offspring (ha-ha) The kind of "How-to-pull-the-wool-over-your-kid's-eyes-in-ten-lessons" books. See what I mean?
Well my thoughts are drifting away from the centre subject.
Ok so why are my children forced in bed at 7 ?
As I read books and books about children, one thing imprinted in my mind : the importance of sleep.
Children need a lot of sleep. Even if they don't want to, because things happening during the day are so much more interesting than sleeping (see my post about HP's sleep here).
My children wake up very early : around 5 or 6, especially on weekends ; because during the week we often have to wake them around 6.45, but the younger one also likes to start calling at 5.30. The alarm clock is set on 6.10. How good is that to be awoken about half an hour before having to get up? Can you get back to sleep knowing that? NO WAY.
I'm drifting away again 8-)
As they wake up very early, we want them to go to bed early, so they get enough sleep. They need at least 11 to 12 hours sleep to be "in a good mood" during the day. The more they sleep, the more they need sleep. The less they sleep, the more grumpy they are, the more crying fits we get, the more crying fits they have during the day, the more difficult it is to put them in their bed, so they don't get enough sleep, they're grumpy the next day... You get the point.
This is a very vicious cycle it is very hard to break. There is always a reason for them to go to bed too late. Friends or family visiting, visiting friends or family, stuck in a traffic jam that got us home very late, a school meeting, the plumber who's talking so loud when they just got to bed - anything.
Your child's sleep is as important for his health as for yours. Good sleep helps develop the brain connections (and this was enough for me to decide that my children would go to bed early. Seriously! What is more important than the brain development? When you know that the first years of life will more or less determine the development of your children's brain. I think it is a duty we have, as parents, for our children. As a child I had to go to bed early and was very unhappy about that but now, I understand and am so thankful that my parents stuck to what they thought was right. That's the thing. You are the mother/father, you know what is good for your child. So if you want your child to have a healthy development and decide he has to go to bed early, stick to it. Don't listen to the grand parents saying "What!? we just arrived and you put your kids in bed, we didn't even get to say hi!" (or answer "get here sooner next time!"HA!)
Seriously, now I come to think about this, I don't understand why people invite us/or come for supper at 7.30! Yay my kids should be in bed since half an hour by that time!
Anyway.
So YES, I want my children in bed by 7 because they need it. For they brain, for their mood, for their physical development -for our sanity, too-
They don't know they need a lot of sleep and they make sure we know about that. For that they use stratagems like shouting, screaming, screeching, crying and the like.
Oh you have the same at home?
Well this article is for YOU, dear tired reader !
First things first.
When I was pregnant, I did a lot of reading. Not any reading but the kind of educational one. Books about pregnancy and how you can affect the future behaviour and even abilities of your baby ; books about raising children, giving them all the love they need and blah-blah-blah...
Later, when my first child was well born and trying to get rid of me (it seemed, and to know why, see here) I started to read books about how to stay in control of your offspring (ha-ha) The kind of "How-to-pull-the-wool-over-your-kid's-eyes-in-ten-lessons" books. See what I mean?
Well my thoughts are drifting away from the centre subject.
Ok so why are my children forced in bed at 7 ?
As I read books and books about children, one thing imprinted in my mind : the importance of sleep.
Children need a lot of sleep. Even if they don't want to, because things happening during the day are so much more interesting than sleeping (see my post about HP's sleep here).
My children wake up very early : around 5 or 6, especially on weekends ; because during the week we often have to wake them around 6.45, but the younger one also likes to start calling at 5.30. The alarm clock is set on 6.10. How good is that to be awoken about half an hour before having to get up? Can you get back to sleep knowing that? NO WAY.
I'm drifting away again 8-)
As they wake up very early, we want them to go to bed early, so they get enough sleep. They need at least 11 to 12 hours sleep to be "in a good mood" during the day. The more they sleep, the more they need sleep. The less they sleep, the more grumpy they are, the more crying fits we get, the more crying fits they have during the day, the more difficult it is to put them in their bed, so they don't get enough sleep, they're grumpy the next day... You get the point.
This is a very vicious cycle it is very hard to break. There is always a reason for them to go to bed too late. Friends or family visiting, visiting friends or family, stuck in a traffic jam that got us home very late, a school meeting, the plumber who's talking so loud when they just got to bed - anything.
Your child's sleep is as important for his health as for yours. Good sleep helps develop the brain connections (and this was enough for me to decide that my children would go to bed early. Seriously! What is more important than the brain development? When you know that the first years of life will more or less determine the development of your children's brain. I think it is a duty we have, as parents, for our children. As a child I had to go to bed early and was very unhappy about that but now, I understand and am so thankful that my parents stuck to what they thought was right. That's the thing. You are the mother/father, you know what is good for your child. So if you want your child to have a healthy development and decide he has to go to bed early, stick to it. Don't listen to the grand parents saying "What!? we just arrived and you put your kids in bed, we didn't even get to say hi!" (or answer "get here sooner next time!"HA!)
Seriously, now I come to think about this, I don't understand why people invite us/or come for supper at 7.30! Yay my kids should be in bed since half an hour by that time!
Anyway.
So YES, I want my children in bed by 7 because they need it. For they brain, for their mood, for their physical development -for our sanity, too-