Sleep can be disrupted by so many factors. You will always run into something that will mess with sleep…like SUMMER!
If however, you are prepared, you know what to do and your baby is rested and has some great skills, nothing can ruin sleep for you.
But Summer is known to come with some bedtime struggles and early mornings.
Let’s chat about how we can prepare to ensure great sleep this summer!
Here are my top 5 tips:
Increased daylight = delayed melatonin secretion = bedtime struggles (lack of sleepiness)
Tip 1: delayed bedtime is the biggest sleep disruption we see in the summer. It’s caused by LIGHT, the sun is out later in the evening and earlier in the morning. This triggers the brain to slow down melatonin production and you have less sleepy kids… that need sleep but are wide awake!
The solution to this is DARKNESS, cover windows, dim lights at least one hour before bed, and even though it’s sunny, darken those rooms. Blackout blinds, blackout film on windows whatever you can do to make that room pitch dark. Even just a few rays of sunlight coming into the room can trigger the brain to wake up before its time.
https://www.lilbabysleep.ca/freeschedules
Tip 2: Summer is a time for fun, bbq’s and time might get the better of us, dinner might be late and bedtime pushed back. This is OKAY! Sleep cycles tend to shift back by 30 minutes during the summer.
The key here is as much as you can, stick to the same bedtime schedule when possible. It’s so important for both children and adults to set their sleep wake cycles by consistently going to bed and waking up at the same time each day.
80/20 rule, stay well-rested 80% of the time so that 20% of the time you have flexibility in your schedule and can adjust with little sleep “hangovers” or tantrums.
Tip 3: Exercise during the day (awake time) and wind down before sleep. You want to keep your children active during the day but as bedtime approaches, you want to start winding down and relaxing their bodies/minds. Avoid lots of physical activity and stimulation close to bedtime. Establish a routine that has a period of relaxing, dim lights, and a chance for the body to rest. We cannot expect to go right from exercise to sleep without a cool-down period.
Turn off screens and engage in a quiet activity before bed.
Tip 4: Get direct sunlight in the morning. As soon as your baby wakes up, take them to the window, open the blinds and expose them to natural sunlight. Whatever time you expose them to sunlight, food or social interaction becomes the signal to their bodies and biological clocks that it’s daytime and thus the body will wake up naturally at that time.
A nice walk outside in the morning is always great to get that sunshine (always use sunscreen and protection against the sun).
Tip 5: Summers can get warm and as the temperature goes up, you want to ensure your baby stays COOL.
Light can also cue the brain to start regulating temperature, as it gets darker your body temperature begins to drop in preparation for sleep.
Your brain requires your core body temperature to drop 2-3 degrees Fahrenheit in order to achieve sleep. Check out this blog article for more on this.
Your room temperature should always be between 18-22 degrees Celsius. You might have to adjust bedding to more summer fabrics (ie. cotton). Always go for a lighter fabric swaddle or sleep sack for the summer. A fan in the room is also helpful in keeping a baby’s room cool and conducive to great sleep.
*note that body temperature is at its lowest at around 1-3 am so you also don’t want to have it too cold and have baby waking up at that time (although this is a very common wake up time as we start to see the transition to light sleep from then on and the body begins waking up).
All in all, the key to staying rested during the summer months is BALANCE. There WILL be hiccups but if your baby is well-rested going into it and they have the ability to fall asleep independently. Then you can feel confident that they will be largely unaffected.
Keeping these five tips in mind will just strengthen your sleep habits and avoid any unnecessary interruptions.
Happy sleeping and happy summering my friends!
Lil xx
