Halloween has been one of the most anticipated holidays in nearly every kid’s calendar, but less so for their parents. After experiencing an array of visually spectacular costumes and chowing down their sugary treats, there are just too many stimulants going in a kid’s mind. This makes the task of getting them to bed on time next to impossible for parents.
It’s possible to both let your children celebrate the spirit of Halloween while still maintaining their bedtime routine. Here are 5 tips to help get your little monsters to bed on time after a long night of trick or treating
Did you know?
If there’s another holiday that can make a kid’s eyes glow with joy and excitement like Christmas, then Halloween is definitely a strong contender for the position. While having its origin strongly rooted in Celtic culture, the concept of “trick or treating” and pranking was the result of Irish and Scottish immigrants bringing their cultures to America in the 19th century.
Trick or treaters of this time would don themselves ghoulish costumes and collect their sweet bounties as they parade the street, going from one house to another. In the 1930s, this fun and seemingly innocent tradition would be misconstrued by young pranksters of this time that it was ok to resort to acts of vandalism. Eventually, there would be pandemonium as many houses were trashed and property damage cases kept piling up every Halloween from then, to the point where local authorities had to intervene.
This would later be solved as children were encouraged to go door to door and say the magic phrase “trick or treat” to collect their sweet bounties instead. Birthing the contemporary tradition of trick or treating that we all know and love today.
- Make a Halloween-themed bedroom!
Chances are high that your kids might want to organize a sleepover party for their friends after Halloween is done. Consider adopting some iconic Halloween look into decorating their bedroom. Dim lit rooms are ideal for creating that dark and gothic atmospheric tone. Only a couple of subtleties can reproduce a startling stylistic layout. For this situation, candles are your partners in making a hair-raising environment. Their standard warmth is outperformed by the chills they’re ready to offer in a Halloween-related climate.
Since vampires are known for investing a ton of energy in their final resting places, you can adopt that into decorating your kid’s bed!. However, the first major focus should always be comfort and support before you start going crazy with all the spider and skull plush toys.
Although mainstream media would have you believe that firmness is the best quality when it comes to mattresses, soft mattresses that support different pressure points in the body are actually the most practical. Aside from its apparent effectiveness in facilitating high-quality sleep, it will also help keep the entire body and spine in proper alignment. This is especially helpful for those who tend to toss and turn their body during sleep. Additionally, it’s also been scientifically proven that sufficient mattresses help prevent dangerous health complications like sleep apnea from manifesting.
- Draw the line
It’s important to be assertive and transparent with your child with matters relating to their wellness. Notify them of the amount of time they have to go trick or treating before heading back home for bedtime. You should also establish a reward and punishment system so that they know what to expect. They certainly will bombard you with cries about how unfair it all is in the beginning, but perseverance and assertiveness at times like this will go a long way in making them more accepting of bedtime. It also can help them realize that as long as they stick to the rule, they can have plenty of Halloweens in the future to come.
- Limit their sugar intake
It’s really hard to tell a kid that they can’t just stuff their face with all the candies they earned. It’s both the main course for the night as well as the quickest way to compromise sleep for your kiddos. As a parent, we’re sure you already know all about how damaging sugar can be for sleeping patterns in children. The only viable solution for your child’s sleep is to be vocal against the idea of shoving their face with candies at the end of the night.
While it might sound like you’re just being a typical authoritarian parent to your kids at first, it’s also through how to impose it that will have an effect on how your child will see it.
This is where the reward system comes in. For each task finished and positive behavior shown, give them a small number of candies as a sign of recognition and praise, or putting the stash into a bowl and using it as a dessert treat they can look forward to.
To help with your child’s withdrawal of sugary goodness, you should set up a pre-bedtime food to celebrate early. You could add orange food shading to their yogurt, or cut up some cheddar and nuts to take after the ubiquitous jack-o-lantern design.
- Keep it as quiet as possible
Noise is a big compromising factor for sleep and with the mass of young and energized kids still wandering the roads outside, it can potentially ruin your entire effort of getting your kid into bed in the first place. If you have a machine room then crank it up to drown out the noise in their room somewhat stronger than normal. Alternatively, you can also place a fan or two by the window as a makeshift sound buffer option.
In case you want to take further steps, leave a bowl of sweets on your doorway with a note that says they are welcome to take as many candies as they want as long as they are subtle with it. Most of the time, anyone would happily comply with such a polite request.
- Tell them bedtime stories
Halloween is exciting. Naturally, your kid may experience some difficulty decompressing for bed after their Halloween experience. To help pull together them toward rest, recommend making a sleep time story together. Join your kids in their creative process and create characters from your #1 outfit, and maybe take turns in coming up with the next part of the story. Dem Bones, Cow’s Head, Haunted, and Yellow Ribbon are all good Halloween tales to tell before bedtime, they’re kid-friendly and not so excessively horror-driven to the point where your kids would wet themselves.
Final thoughts
Try to keep things normal as can be before and after Halloween. Refrain from hyping them up too much and make them stick to the rules that you have established. Avoid giving them too many sugary products before bedtime and keep the noise level down to a minimum. Your kid is guaranteed to wake up refreshed and rejuvenated the next day.
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