Now that the days are getting longer, with light evenings and early mornings, your child may struggle to understand bed time and getting up time. You might have noticed their sleep is becoming disrupted as a result. Don’t worry; there are some simple steps that you can take which will help your child to be a fantastic spring and summer sleeper!

Babies recognise light and dark as day/night signifiers from very early on and so it is not at all surprising that many little ones get confused when after the winter months, they go to bed and it is still light outside. Sometimes it just doesn’t feel right to be sleeping during daylight and settling down to sleep can be a struggle. As well as the problem of mentally associating daytime with wakefulness, there are biological reasons too why we all [babies included] struggle to sleep in the light. One of the major sleep hormones, Melatonin is only secreted during darkness, and this is the hormone that helps to get to sleep and to stay asleep. 

Of course, getting off to sleep when it is light outside is not the only problem with summer sleep. There is also the early waking which comes all too often at the first sign of morning light.

Creating a dark environment is one of the best ways in which you can help your child to sleep through the lighter nights. We all know of course that black out blinds and curtains can be helpful in helping little ones to understand that it is sleep time. Even if there are bits of light coming through at the edges, the bedroom is still darker than in daylight and for most children, this is enough. Some children really do like to sleep in total darkness however and if yours is like this, you will need to block out any light coming in through the windows. Whilst this might be possible to do at home, you might have problems when you go away on holiday or to stay with friends. The Gro Company make a great portable blackout blind that fits most window sizes and is very effective at blocking out unwanted light.

Another way of helping your child to sleep when its light outside and they think its play time is to be especially consistent with your bed time routine. That ultra familiar series of steps leading up to bedtime, when repeated often enough will make a child feel sleepy, regardless of what the light levels are.

If your child is around 2 years old or more and is really struggling with the lighter nights or mornings, you should try the Gro Clock. This training clock shows a moon or a sun on the clock face, depending on the whether it is day time or night time. You, the parent set the time for the moon to come up at your child’s desired bed time and the sun to appear at getting up time. These visual time signifiers can really help an older toddler or young child to understand day and night during the summer months when the light levels can be confusing.

It is important to remember that people [children too] naturally stay awake for a bit longer during periods of increased daylight. Use the opportunity of warmer, longer days to offer lots of outside play for your child, and this will certainly lead to better sleep!