Bedtime Routines for Children

What you will be able to do

• explain how the body clock and sleep pressure affect your child's bedtime.
• spot signs that your child may need more sleep, including overtiredness.
• build a calm 20 to 45 minute bedtime routine and a picture chart with your child.
• time bedtime by working back from wake-up time and adjust it in small steps.
• set up the bedroom, evening food, drinks and teeth brushing to support sleep.
• create and keep a family screens-off plan.
• use calm, consistent responses to stalling, getting out of bed, fears and night waking.
• recognise when a sleep problem needs advice from a health professional.

1. 1Why sleep and routines matter

   Understand how children's sleep works, why a predictable routine helps, and how to tell whether your child is getting enough sleep.

   • How children's sleep works
   • Is my child getting enough sleep?
   • Starting a sleep diary

   Child sleep diary

2. 2Building your bedtime routine

   Choose the steps, order and timing of a calm routine, and make a picture chart with your child so they can follow it themselves.

   • The core steps of a good routine
   • Making a picture chart with your child
   • Getting the timing right

   Picture bedtime routine chartChild sleep diary

3. 3The bedroom, the evening and the day

   Set up a bedroom that helps sleep, plan evening food and drinks that suit bedtime, and use daytime habits that make nights easier.

   • Setting up the bedroom for sleep
   • Food, drinks and teeth in the evening
   • Daytime habits that help nights

   Child sleep diary

4. 4Screens and sleep

   Understand how screens affect bedtime, make a screens-off plan the whole family can stick to, and handle phones and devices with older children.

   • How screens affect sleep
   • Making a screens-off plan
   • Older children, phones and the bedroom

   Screens-off planner

5. 5Handling bedtime battles

   Understand why bedtime battles happen, and use calm, consistent ways to handle stalling, getting out of bed, fears, night waking and early rising.

   • Why bedtime battles happen
   • Calm, consistent responses that work
   • Fears, night waking and early rising

   Calm bedtime script cardsPicture bedtime routine chartChild sleep diary

6. 6Changes, sleep problems and keeping it going

   Keep bedtime on track through holidays, clock changes and family changes, understand night terrors and nightmares, and know when to talk to a professional.

   • When life changes
   • Night terrors, nightmares and sleepwalking
   • When to talk to a professional, and keeping it going

   Picture bedtime routine chartChild sleep diaryScreens-off planner

• BuilderPicture bedtime routine chartBuild a simple step-by-step bedtime chart with your child, print it, and let them add a picture for each step to follow and tick off each night.
• TrackerChild sleep diaryRecord your child's bedtime, sleep and night wakings for two weeks to spot patterns and see whether changes are working.
• PlannerScreens-off plannerPlan screens-off times, calm swap activities and where devices sleep, for every day of the week, so the hour before bed becomes screen-free.
• CardsCalm bedtime script cardsShort, ready-to-use phrases for the most common bedtime battles, so you can stay calm and consistent when you are tired.