A parenting expert said not having set bedtimes for your kids is the trick to avoiding bedtime battles. Kirsty Ketley, 42, was a nanny for 25 years and had to follow strict routines handed down by parents - such as the '7 until 7' routine. But when daughter Ella, now nine, was born two months prematurely in 2013, Kirsty realised sticking to the same sleep pattern everyday was nearly impossible.
She was "just getting more and more frustrated with it all". Along with husband Stuart, 41, Kirsty decided to “be more child led while keeping some structure" - which involves letting your children decide, or indicate, when they are ready for bed. She has no set bedtime for Ella, and Leo, now six, instead reacting to how tired the kids are - or how busy they've been - when it comes to bedtime.
But she said the secret is to always maintain the same pre-bed routine - in her case, no screens for the last 30 minutes, reading a book and dimming the lights. Kirsty has now set up her own sleep consultancy business to help frazzled parents, advocating for an intuitive approach, which takes children’s feelings into account, rather than a rigid routine. The mum-of-two said: “I do see the merit and routine for children, because it does obviously help them thrive, and bedtime routines are good, but I think parents can focus too much on a set time that the children have to be asleep.
