A little more time together
Falling asleep means separating from your parents. But when it’s time for bedtime, a small child may feel as though they haven’t “filled up” on their presence. He needs enough time with them to laugh, play, cuddle, talk, identify with them, feel appreciated, and see himself progress in their eyes.
How to react?
Of course, you can postpone bedtime by 15 minutes to spend a little more time with your child. This won’t have a dramatic impact on his sleeping time, especially if he falls asleep faster! But it’s all about quality.
A little trick to be really available when you’re with him: turn off your cell phone, as well as the TV, so that you can listen to him attentively, and not just with one ear. A little something that can change everything.
At night, I’m afraid of monsters
If a child has nightmares, he or she may become fearful of sleep and therefore struggle to stay awake. Having nightmares is normal and even useful: it allows them to revisit certain stressful events of the day in order to better digest them. Only here is, they are very unpleasant!
How to react?
The nightmare requires the intervention of the parents when the child wakes up in a panic. If he is sure that he is heard and reassured, he will be less afraid of falling asleep.
To reassure him: leave his door ajar so that he can hear the noises of the house, put a nightlight on him if he asks for it, and, in the evening, avoid leaving him in front of a screen and reading him stories of monsters that would feed his fears.
