Christmas is a magical time especially when you have children. The countdown in December seems to last forever and it will feel even longer for a child.
An advent calendar is a great way of explaining to a child (that knows their numbers) just how many days until Christmas.
Although excitement is lovely to see, it can have an impact on our children’s behaviour and sleeping habits.
The newest craze is ‘elf on the shelf’, how amazing it is to see the look on our little one's face when your elf turns up on the 1st December. Although the elf can promote good behaviour as they are reporting to Santa/Father Christmas, you do need to take into consideration that especially for young children that may not fully understand the concept, seeing the mischievous things that the elf is doing like squirting toothpaste all over the bathroom or hanging off the lights, may not always teach our children the most positive behaviour.
It may be worth having an elf that is not so cheeky and just plays hide and seek.
For older children that understand the concept of the elf reporting to Santa, you may not have this problem and you can carry on having the elf doing those naughty things!
Also note, the excitement and extreme emotions which may be experienced may cause lack of sleep, ultimately affecting your child’s sleeping habits.
Things to Consider:
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Keep the bedtime routine the same, even if timings have changed, it is still important to keep the routine the same so that your children have time to relax and calm down from any excitement.
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If possible, when you are doing those exciting Santa's grotto trips or the Christmas parties, look at timings and try to factor in some down time when you get home before heading to bed.
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Reminding your children that they need lots of sleep so they have more energy for their Christmas nativity or party.
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How excited are you to see your child play the donkey in the school nativity? It is important to remember that just because you are excited, doesn’t mean your child is. It can be really daunting for a child to get up in front of a lot of people and be dressed as a donkey and asked to sing songs. You will often find that it may be the second or third year of school that they become more nervous because they know what to expect and also, they are becoming more aware of what other people think of them. This can also affect your child’s sleep. Have you ever been nervous and not been able to sleep the night before or even a few nights before a big meeting? This is totally normal. Just talk it through with your child, explain that it is ok to be nervous and that you will be proud no matter what.
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The night before Father Christmas visits, (I can still remember being a child and not being able to sleep the night before Christmas so this is always going to be a challenge), all you can do is be active throughout the day, try and keep the routine as close as possible to normal and tell them the golden rule, Father Christmas has to visit all the children so does not have time to stop and talk to everyone, so he likes to come to the houses of those children that are asleep. The quicker they get to sleep, the quicker it will be morning!!
The main thing is to have fun, children are very adaptable and will soon enough go back to normal if their usual routine is disrupted. Make memories with your children, keep it magical and ENJOY!!!
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