THE ULTIMATE MOM HACK
I really thought that I had cracked parenting with two children under the age of five clocking in their twelve hours of sleep every single night, but recently life has got a lot more demanding when it comes to bedtime.
My immediate assumption was that I was merely raising a couple of child-geniuses as the string of in-depth questions about the universe and the animal kingdom just kept coming when I tried to leave the room but then, the lightbulb went on - these were just tactics employed by my little troops to stall that final moment of the day and it was clear that I was losing this bedtime battle.
I’m going to throw it out there and declare that I found the bedtime stage more challenging than the newborn years, as the lovely little legs and defiant minds that they were growing, were proving to be a huge barrier when it came to a peaceful and swift bedtime at the end of the day.
We were no longer in the zone of ‘try swaddling them a little tighter’ or ‘dim the lights to make it clear it is bedtime’, when those podgy (yet yummy) little hands and busy feet can quite easily move around and change the status quo of the room within seconds of you closing the door behind you.
The WhatsApp messages that I was having with fellow parents indicated that I was not alone in this battle. This was great for comradery but not for actual solutions until we started sharing our favorite hacks to help us to get, just that little bit quicker to that glass of wine waiting for us downstairs.
The beauty of parenting hacks is that they make your kids feel like they are kings or queens of the roost yet it’s you, walking away with the parenting prize. And actually, if you really think about it, it’s not so hard to think of your very own tricks of the trade when it comes to making bedtime a smooth and easy ride for all involved.
Here are some of my very own hacks that have certainly eased the bedtime routine in our household and I am the lucky owner of two independent (that’s code for stubborn-minded) children – aged 3 and 5.
1. Struggling with getting them to happily walk away from the TV and their toys at the end of the day? Initiate the ‘Hide the Toothbrush’ game in their bedroom which my kids love to play. This usually eases the pain of persuading them upstairs and leads you nicely into some dental hygiene too. Win win.
2. And then there’s ‘Sleeping Lions’. We are all familiar with this helpful game during a sugar-crazed kids’ party but why not try it on your little lot when they are lying under their covers? “I will be back in FIVE minutes and if you have moved, you are out of the game but IF you have stayed in the same spot (and I mean NOT moved) you can win a prize.” With the winning gift being as large or small as you like as we all know that you had them at ‘prize’.
3. Struggling with hair washing woes? If your brood is bemoaning the idea of a bath, then just strap some goggles onto them and ask them to find some hidden (bath toy) treasure beneath the bubbles.
The Ultimate Parenting Hack
But the ultimate mom-hack is Moshi Sleep which has spun my kids’ bedtime around and really should be on your radar. Seek out the app and ye shall find a huge selection of bedtime stories, designed for that moment you have read the book and had the debate about ‘lights on’ or ‘lights off’ (or is that just my children?) allowing them to independently drift off into an enchanting world created by the clever bods at Moshi.
Don’t just take my word for it, research shows that 97% of parents surveyed agreed that the Moshi Sleep app helps get their child to sleep quicker than usual… which means you will get more time in your evenings to do what makes you happy. A godsend for all busy parents out there.
Your only dilemma will be deciding what you are going to do with all that free time… Bring on the #MoshiMeTime.
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