Recent studies have shown that reading for just six minutes can reduce stress levels by 68%. Books have the same calming influence in young children and can be very useful when it comes to making your child sleep at night. As well as doing some research for myself, I’ve also asked every mum I know, and there are three main reasons books can help your baby sleep:
Routine
First time mums and dads survive the gauntlet of baby’s bedtime by establishing a regular routine. Story-time is one of the most important parts of that routine because it’s a very well defined activity that’s different from all other parts of the day. If story-time is always followed by bedtime, your baby will be a lot more likely to understand and even find comfort in the fact that one activity naturally follows another.
The first few months, or even years, of a baby’s life can be really hard work if he or she isn’t a good sleeper. Even if this routine doesn’t seem to help the baby sleep, having a structure in the evening can really support a young mum or dad get through the sleep deprivation so often experienced!
Although there will always be ups and downs in a baby’s sleeping pattern, establishing the routine that places stories just before bedtime will help to trigger sleep for years to come.
Quiet Time
My nephew, who’s two, has a lot of energy and can keep going long after the grown ups have run out of steam. His dinner seems to give him a real burst of energy so he’s often found tearing around the house in the early evening. Even if he’s tired, it can be hard to calm him down enough to get him changed into pyjamas, let alone get him to sleep.
Book time is a really important part of that ‘calming down’ process. Children usually love stories so they can often be persuaded to sit and listen to a tall tale or two. Once they’re sitting down and there’s less noise and excitement, they’ll often realise that they’re tired and ready to sleep. My brother and sister-in-law call this ‘Quiet Time’. It works as a sort of buffer between the running around that’s required to tire out their son, and the peace and quiet that’s needed for him to be able to sleep.
In the stress studies mentioned above, scientists found that reading helps to reduce muscle tension and lower heart rates- exactly the kind of relaxed state your child needs to be in to get off to sleep as quickly as possible!
Subject Matter
As well as routine and quiet time, books can help your baby sleep because of the subject matter of the story. This obviously requires language comprehension, so it only applies to slightly older children. For example, a book that starts out with an adventure but ends up with the adventurers cosily tucked up in bed will often translate to the child.
As the study (linked to above) says, “”losing yourself in a book is the ultimate relaxation”. It goes on to describe how it is the act of engaging your imagination in another time and place that helps with the relaxation, because it transports you away from whatever was stopping you from relaxing in this world.
Books that get your child really excited or a little bit scared are probably best avoided in the evening because they’ll get the imagination working overtime.
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So there we have it, three excellent reasons to incorporate even more books into you and your baby’s lifestyle!
(Thanks to Shadowgate and laffy4k for the images)
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Happy New Year!