Having bedtime routines for moms seems laughable. Only babies and children need bedtime routines, right? But I have come to realise that having a consistent bedtime routine helps me unwind and fall asleep easier and faster.
Are you one of those who falls asleep once your head hits the pillow? I usually do, thank God! But I do not take this for granted at all. And I believe having a consistent bedtime routine plays a part.
If you have trouble unwinding at the end of the day, try setting up a bedtime routine for yourself. And stick to it for about 2 weeks. After all, what have you got to lose, right?
Telling the Brain to Stop Work
As stay-at-home-mothers (SAHMs), the demarcation between work and rest is often faint, blurred or worse, non-existent. After all, our work at home is never done. There is always something that needs to be cleaned, dusted, decluttered, put away, or planned.
When you work in an office, your brain know work is done once you leave the office. Sure, you may bring work home and still have to finish up the odds and ends. But that is (should be?) the exception rather than the norm.
But as SAHMs, our work really doesn’t end, does it. So, having a consistent bedtime routine helps to signal to our brains that we are done for the day. Then we can start getting the needed physical and mental rest.
What is a Good Bedtime Routine for Moms?
In my opinion, a good bedtime routine for moms, or anyone for that matter, is one that helps remove the clutter in our brains, helps us unwind which causes us to fall asleep quickly.
But it needs to be simple to implement or we will just not do it. Too many steps and we will give up after the 1st few days.
And for those with young children in the home, it is understood that our bedtime routines is linked to theirs. But with older children there is more freedom to decide when it starts.
A Hard Stop
Before setting up mom’s bedtime routine, it is best to decide on a trigger to get us started. Something which will give us a clear and hard STOP WORK sign, without which we will just go on and on. Ask me how I know.
This trigger can be anything you like. For example, you could choose a fixed time (e.g. 9pm) where you need or want to stop work. Or it could be a task that you do to signal the end of the day’s work and the start of prepping to go to bed. If you are a Flylady follower, you may decide that shining your sink signals a hard stop because once you have shined your sink, the kitchen is closed. But this also means that your bedtime can be very late
Tip:
Use a timer and set up 2 alarms prior to your actual hard stop so that you can wrap up whatever it is you are doing.
When Should a Good Bedtime Routine Start?
This depends on your bedtime and the number of tasks in your bedtime routine. Estimate how long each task takes, then total up the amount of time taken. Finally, start working backwards.
For example, these are the things I do to help me unwind in this season of my life.
- brush teeth & wash up – 5 minutes
- read the newspapers – 15 minutes
- read a chapter of a book – 20 minutes
TOTAL TIME TAKEN – 40 minutes
Preferred bedtime 11pm
Bedtime routine needs to start at 10:20pm.
I keep it simple so that it is easily done. So even on nights when I am too tired or perhaps had returned late from an appointment, I can still do all 3 tasks but shorten the time taken for each task. I may just flip through the newspapers and read just a page or two of my book instead of the whole chapter.
What is Your Bedtime Routine?
Do you have a bedtime routine? Do you agree with me that a bedtime routine for moms is just as necessary for us to unwind and sleep better as it is for our babies and toddlers?
And if you have trouble falling asleep, try it and see if it helps you.
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