5 Summertime Sleep Tips for Babies and Kids
Summertime can be tricky for a lot of families. There’s so much to do and the weather is so nice we often overdo it and disrupt our lives. That goes especially for young children who absolutely need their sleep to ensure proper development. Here are some summertime-specific tips you should follow to make sure your kids get the right amount of sleep.
1. Keep the temperature cool
Babies can’t regulate their body temperature as well as we do. If they’re hot, they are going to wake up. Plus, they’re more easily overheated than adults. Use an air conditioner or a fan to keep the sleeping room around 68-72 degrees Fahrenheit (the ideal sleeping temperature). Keep the shades drawn in the room during the day so the sun doesn’t heat up the interior.
Our summer weight Zipadee-Zips are perfect garments to help your baby because they eliminate blankets, but the fabric is still cool and light. Like all our Zipadee-Zips, they provide a constant that lets your little guy or gal know that it’s time to sleep.
2. Keep the room dark
Every parent struggles getting their kids to bed in the middle of the summer when the sun is still up in the sky. Their brains are telling them to stay awake because it’s day time but their bodies are exhausted. Blackout shades are wonderful devices for this. Pull the shades before bedtime and have some quiet end-of-the-day play time so they feel like it’s night time
3. Nap, nap, nap!
During the summer we all usually have things going on. We want to enjoy the weather while we have it. Don’t start making excuses for why your kids can’t nap. Make sure you are home during nap time so they can nap in their preferred sleeping space. If you’re spending more time out-and-about and your kids are getting physical activity, you’ll have to budget for more nap time.
4. Keep your routine
Even if your kids are getting plenty of sleep, you can disrupt their sleep schedules if you’re veering off other parts of their routine. Make sure meals are happening at the same time and they’re getting similar amounts of outdoor exercise. Bedtimes, wake times, and nap times should stay the same or the sleep they get won’t be as restful. Staying up late is a part of summer time, but don’t let it happen too often or multiple nights in a row.
5. Stay safe in the sun
Sun burns, heat exhaustion and dehydration make it difficult to sleep. And any sleep they get under these conditions won’t be great. Always use sun block when they are outside and reapply it every four hours. Put them in clothes that cover their skin, but not heavy materials.
How do you make sure everyone sleeps well in the summer?
Written by Stephanie Parker from SleepingBaby.com, inventors of the Zipadee-Zip
The motto for Sleeping Baby, makers of the Zipadee-Zip, is: "Inspiring Dreams One Night at A time," and that, in a nutshell, is how it all started…with one little dream that has since become the Parker family's reality. When Brett and Stephanie Parker's daughter, Charlotte, was born, the feeling that welled up inside of them was indescribable; they never realized until first looking into those baby blues of hers that they were even capable of that kind of love.
When it was time to transition baby from swaddling, the Parkers tried every sleep sack on the market and every swaddle weaning trick they could find for nearly two weeks and nothing worked to get baby Charlotte to fall and stay asleep.
Stephanie became determined to restore sleep and sanity to their household and set out to find a solution that would soothe Charlotte's startle reflex and provide her the cozy womb-like environment she loved so much but still give her the freedom to roll over and wiggle around in her crib safely. Out of sheer desperation and exhaustion, the Zipadee-Zip was born. The first Zipadee-Zip(R) Stephanie put together on her little sewing machine worked like magic!
To date tens of thousands of Zipadee-Zips have been sold and all from word-of-mouth marketing. It is so rewarding for the Parkers to see other parents and babies getting the sleep they both need and deserve!
Interested in writing a guest blog for Sleeping Baby? Send your topic idea to pr@sleepingbaby.com.
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