Back-to-School Sleep

This post is sponsored by Natrol but the content and opinions expressed here are my own.

I don't know about your family, but in the summer we throw bedtimes out the window. In an effort to soak in all the season has to offer (Late night ice cream! Extra inning baseball games! Dinners at the pool!) we let Parker stay up much later than he does during the school year. We totally don't stress about it since our mornings can start later, too, but come the new school year, our mornings are back to bright and early and we need a sleep reset.

This year, the first day of school snuck up on us. Despite my best intentions to start everyone on an earlier bedtime in the weeks beforehand, I found our little family still on our late night schedule that weekend before school started. Oops. To avoid being on the struggle bus later that week, I quickly implemented some changes to help us all transition to an earlier schedule.

First, I made a set dinner time and stuck to it. Dinners during the summer could be as late as seven or eight, but now we hold strictly to 6:15pm. This simple change lets us start all the other bedtime procedures earlier, too.

We keep to the same steps each night - Parker always gets a story in bed, then snuggles from Mama or Dada to the same exact classical bedtime music. We keep distractions out of the room, and if Parker has earned screen time that day we make sure it's used well before this wind-down time. 

Luckily, even with the earlier bedtime, Parker didn't have much of an issue falling asleep. Had he struggled, however, we were prepared! Did you know that Melatonin is pediatrician recommended for occasional sleeplessness? It's drug free, non-habit-forming, and can help kids fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer... and that rest is so important - especially at the beginning of a new school year! 

Natrol Melatonin is a safe and effective option for the whole family. The new Natrol Kids Melatonin comes in two forms (Parker of course loves a gummy version), and is gently formulated for kids ages four and up. The gummies are non-GMO, gelatin-free, vegetarian, and free of artificial flavors, colors, sweeteners and preservatives. The gummies come in adult strength as well, because couldn't we all use better sleep? Learn more about the benefits of Melatonin HERE. Here's to a well rested school year ahead! How is your family tackling back-to-school sleep?

 These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. The product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any diseases.