10 Ways To Improve Your Sleep

After three good nights of sleep (11PM-6.30AM) for the first time in almost a year (my second boy isn’t a great sleeper), I'm confused.

I don’t understand what’s going on…I’m not tired, I feel rested, but somehow it feels strange. I’m simply not used to feeling well rested like this anymore.

I'm no longer able to blame the lack of sleep as an excuse on how I show up for my family. Finding myself being more kind to my husband and more patience with my kids.

Fingers crossed that we’re not back to sleepless nights in the coming days.

If you’re not sleeping through the night, please stay calm and take steps to improve over time. Most importantly, don’t be too hard on yourself.

Sleep is important for you and your kids. It can have a major impact on your mind, body and emotions when you’re not getting enough rest. Could you use more sleep?

Try these 10 tips to improve your sleep and feel rested.

• Increase the amount of time you're asleep. Consider setting a schedule for yourself. It’s one of those annoying and impossible things everyone says, but when you’re really sleep deprived, you need to do this for your own health benefits. If that means you will have to go to bed at 9PM, that’s what you need to do. To take care of your kids, you'll need to put your own health first. Remember, it won’t stay like this forever. There will be better times ahead.
  
  
• Take a nap during the day. I understand this may be difficult to manage during the week but try it during the weekends. If you aren’t a daytime napper, just lay down for 20-30 min instead. When you’re laying down, your body will get some rest too. One thing that helps me for relaxation is to listen to affirmations or a sleep meditation session for 5-15 minutes. Sometimes it even helps me fall asleep.
  
  
• Optimize your sleep. When you’re really tired, you'll sleep however you can. During those times, perhaps optimization isn’t the first thing to prioritize for you right now. So, we all know the drill, no more caffeine in the (late) afternoon and evenings. No screens or bright lights, HITT workouts before bedtime. Create a bedtime ritual with your kids and make bedtime cozy and fun this season with these cute PJ’s.
  
  
• Social Media detox: Do you know how much time you’re spending on social media every day? Let’s take that time to do something else instead. When doing a SM detox, you suddenly have tons of time left to do all sorts of things J. Start simple by putting your phone on airplane mode in the evenings. This can already improve your sleep.
  
  
• Have a great conversation, go for an evening walk, or laugh out loud with your partner, instead of scrolling your phone or tablet silently side-by side all evening. This won’t only improve your sleep, but also your relationship.
  
  
• Write down some affirmations before falling asleep, it will have a positive impact on your sleep and even the next day when you wake up.
  
  
• Journal: Keep a notebook next to your bed to write down thoughts and ideas that show up in the evening or the middle of the night.
  
  
• Sleep training: If you have a young baby at home just like me, consider sleep training the little one. Interested in the best sleep training methods? This can be a good read for you.
  
  
• Embrace The Moments: When you do happen to get more sleep, embrace the moment, appreciate it, and let it be. Enjoy this feeling of energy and that you’re getting back to do all sort of things again.
  
  
• Accept the situation and know that it will get better. Please don’t overthink but do take it seriously.

Don’t underestimate the importance of sleep to function normally.

When you don’t get enough sleep, things start to fall apart.

Your temperament and patience will change and likely not in a good way. You'll not be as empathetic towards your children or partner.

It happens, but you can take steps to improve your sleep quality over time and things will get better.

Written by Anna, kidpik’s Community Manager