When the sun is shining everyone’s mood improves, the smiles come out, and life is better. But when the evenings arrive, and there’s not the normal reduction in light, along with a rise in temperature, it can result in your little one not sleeping as soundly as they usually would.
The lack of sleep can affect the whole family as you’ll all suffer crankiness from not getting enough sleep, and not just that, your child will feel frustrated and you’ll feel helpless to do anything about the issue.
However, you needn’t feel so helpless in future if you try out this list of tips to help your baby get to sleep in the summer.
1. Generate a Gentle Draught
Of an evening, if you allow the windows to remain open slightly; all over the home, if possible, it will help to generate a nice, gentle breeze and this will stop your tot from overheating.
For those who don’t have the option to open the windows, you can substitute this with an oscillating fan that will work to keep the temperature down in the bedroom.
With safety measures at the forefront of your mind, you should place the fan on a windowsill or high place that is out of reach of your child. Don’t leave the fan on directly pointing at your little one of they can become overly cold.
2. Switch to the Right Seasonal Bedding
You can opt to swap out your child’s covers with a lightweight sheet that will help to keep them pleasantly cool while they rest. Much like you would do with yourself, you should aim to keep both bedding and their nightwear light as well as choosing natural, breathable fabrics. Choosing these will help your baby not to get too hot,’ says Sarah Cummings from the sleepadvisor.org.
It might also be a great idea to have some really light muslin wraps in your diaper bag so that you can use them to swaddle up your baby whilst you are out and about.
3. Get Blackout Blinds Installed
As we touched on previously; the summer brings much lighter evenings and this often makes young children slightly confused when it comes to bedtime, with the darkness signaling a time to sleep.
When it stays light, the brain stays awake, so investing in some good quality blackout blinds will set off the reminder your child needs that it’s time to snooze. If you can, make sure that you choose the blinds that come with a cordless function to ensure your child’s safety.
4. Close Your Curtains in the Daytime
By closing the curtains during the day, it helps to keep temperatures lower than they would be if they were left open. This is a good move as it will be cooler for when your nipper is tucked into bed in the night-time. Remember to keep the windows open, if you can (see point one).
5. Draw a Tepid Bath
For when the days reach particularly hot temperatures, let a tepid-to-cool bath be a part of the bedtime routine you have in place for your child.
What’s good about a tepid bath come the end of the day is that it can be that relaxing trigger for the brain and body that signifies the winding down process before bed. Giving your tot a bath like this can also be an assisting factor in regulating their body temperature, making sure they’re cooler than if they are put to bed without one.
6. Get Help from a Thermometer
You can make use of a good old-fashioned thermometer, or a digital one for that fact, as a helpful tool to keep an eye on the temperature of a room. You should be aiming to keep the room’s temperature between 16-20°C, says The Lullaby Trust.
Monitor the situation periodically once your child has been put to bed and use common sense, because there’s every chance that your child could end up feeling a little bit too chilly, so be prepared to add an extra layer or swap the light sheet we advised for their sleeping bag.
You can interchange these two but try not to agitate your child any more than you need to or this may unsettle them even more and make it harder to get them off to sleep again.
7. Don’t Stray Away from Your Regular Routine
You may well think that by leaving it a little later to put your tot to bed you are doing them a favor as it will be darker, and therefore cooler outside, but this isn’t a method you’re advised to follow.
Instead, the best thing to do is to stay as tight to the usual night-time routine, including bedtime, as you can. This prevents a misunderstanding from your child who will need the routine to help them settle. Routines are important to us humans, so bear that in mind when you think about giving it an extra hour.
