A sleep expert is urging parents to put their children to bed as early as 5.30pm - and claims it won't lead to them waking up during the night.
Autumn, who is a Child Sleep Coach and shares advice to her Instagram page @restgrowthrive, maintains that there are several benefits to giving youngsters an earlier bedtime. While admitting that an early sleep schedule can seem 'scary', she says that is a 'secret weapon' for making sure little ones get a good night of rest, Hull Live reports.
In one video, which has garnered more than 4.1 million views, Autumn explains: "Tell a parent to put their little one to bed at 5.30/6.00 p.m. and you’ll get some wide eyes. Trust me, I get it - an early bedtime can be SCARY!"
"Most often, parents think it will lead to an early wakeup. But, in many circumstances an early bedtime can be your secret weapon to your child getting a GREAT night of rest and repaying any built up sleep debts", the sleep expert continued.
"It *typically* winds up with the child sleeping in until their normal wakeup time", Autumn said. She continued to say that the "super early bedtimes" - meaning 5.30pm - are not meant to be "their new normal forever".
Explaining further she said: "Bumping bedtime up temporarily is key to protecting night sleep and avoiding a cycle of over tiredness. It’s always a good idea to bump bedtime earlier if naps throughout the day were short, on-the-go, or totally non-existent."
One example of giving your children an earlier bedtime is if they have been experiencing early wakeups for a long period of time. Autumn says that this can be due to "chronic sleep debt" and a few nights of an earlier bedtime could help them "repay that sleep debt."
Another example for the temporary early bedtime could be if they have been having "poor" or "non-existent" naps, especially if they may have been in day care.
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here.
