With more travel, seeing family and lots of lovely plans Christmas can be fun - and overwhelming! - and squeezing sleep into all this excitement can be even harder.
Here are our sleep expert Imogen’s top tips for managing their sleep during the festive period, no matter how you choose to spend it.
‘We often hear these tips, but these are the basics for travelling, changing environments and being busy at Christmas:
Keep sleep safe: We all like to enjoy some late nights and a tipple here and there over Christmas, so here's what you need to remember to keep sleep safe for your little ones.
- If your baby is under 6 months they should be placed on their backs in a clear sleep space.
- Babies shouldn’t sleep on the sofa or on a sleeping caregiver especially if the caregiver has drunk alcohol or smoked.
- Bear in mind we are all likely to get more lethargic when we’re warm and feeling full. Make sure your baby is dressed appropriately for sleep so they don't overheat.
Setting up the sleep space: Keeping the room dark, quiet and warm enough are important for setting a familiar stage for sleep. You might like to bring a teddy, blanket or story from home to keep things feeling normal and smelling familiar.
Stick to a loose pattern for your days and nights, so sleep doesn’t go too off the rails, but without worrying about it too much.
Remember sleep is sleep. No matter when, where or how long, it all counts. Take what you can and facilitate it however you need to!
My Top Tips
Make a plan: if planning is your thing, plan ahead as to when and where you might go over Christmas and think about whether you’ll be staying away for the night or just the day. You can then plan what you might like to do to manage sleep. Whether this be designating a rota for tending to the children or deciding what you are and aren’t comfortable with regarding your child's sleep.
Think where and when to offer naps. Sleep can happen wherever is safe and appropriate - in a carrier, pram, travel cot, a bed or on the floor in a corner somewhere. If you see the following sleepy cues you might like to offer a sleep to your child.
Plan your calm. These times can be really stressful for everyone. Plan in some calm time for you too, even if this means hiding in the loo for 5 minutes. It’s easy to get overstimulated.
Trust yourself. More time with family can often mean you end up with more unsolicited advice on how to parent. I like to use these responses:
- "I appreciate your input! We're doing what feels right for our family right now."
- "Thanks for sharing—parenting is definitely a learning journey for us all!"
- "That’s an interesting perspective! We're sticking to what works for us at the moment."
- "Thanks for the tip! We’ve got our own approach that’s working well, but I’ll keep that in mind."
Have a calm-down period before bedtime. Give your child your full attention and have a chat, do a calming activity like a jigsaw or play with them a little. This connection is really powerful for regulating them before starting to move them to sleep. A great hack is to use the phrase “You are having such a fun time, let's play together for 5 minutes, will you show me what to do?” this way we aren’t relying on the ‘5 more minutes until bedtime’ phrase which is often met with resistance.
Consider popping babies to bed at a normal time and transferring them when needed as opposed to keeping them up late. This may work well to ensure they don’t get totally overwhelmed.
Get plenty of exercise and at least 15 minutes outside each day. Getting outside is really important, rain or shine, and an excellent way to come down from all the excitement.
Keep an eye on the food your little one has. We don’t want them to be overly full before sleep. Also, try to keep a balanced diet and rely on sophoric (sleepy) foods closer to bedtime as opposed to sugary snacks.
- Almonds
- Kiwi
- Cherries
- Fatty fish (e.g., salmon, mackerel)
- Oatmeal
- Bananas
- Turkey
- Honey
- Sweet potatoes
- Cottage cheese
- Whole grain bread
Often screens can make children more overstimulated. When you try to take them away it can lead to overwhelm. Think of some non-screen activities to supplement instead of screen time; you might like to prep a sensory bag of toys from home to play with and touch.
Hold space for meltdowns. It's overwhelming but if you can spot the signs try to redirect this energy or change the environment to bring things back to baseline.
Get kids involved. Kids love to be involved so get them helping so they feel a purpose. This direction can keep behaviour levelled out.
Helping excitable little ones to sleep
Christmas is a busy time, we can be more excited or stressed, and children often have particularly busy days doing lovely festive activities. This can mean that we all have higher alerting cortisol levels flowing around our bodies. We need to help children become regulated and calm before sleep. Here are my top hacks for sensory activities to help your child relax before sleep.
‘Wrap the present’ sensory massage:
- No matter their age a sensory massage can be a great way to have some 1-1 time with your child and bring them down from all the excitement.
- Take them into a dimly lit room and lay them on the floor or a bed.
- Roll out the wrapping: Roll your little one on a flat surface
- Flatten out the paper: Stretch them out and stroke their body head to toe as if you are flattening wrapping paper
- Cut the paper: do some chopping on cutting motions on their bodies.
- Wrap the present: Bundle them up by wrapping them loosely in a blanket or bringing their limbs into their centre.
- Stick the tape: press lightly on pressure points like the wrists and bottom of the feet.
- Pop on a bow: place a hand firmly on top of their heads to add a bow.
- Unwrap the present: Unwrap the present (your child!) and tickle, shake gently or kiss. You can make this as exciting or relaxing as you like.
Christmas Cracker Blanket Roll:
- Roll your baby up in a blanket like a cracker with their head poking out one end.
- Pull at their arms and legs like a cracker.
- This sensory stimulation and tight pressure can be wonderful for a relaxing sensory experience.
Social Story:
Preparing children for change can be as important as the actual change.
If you know you will be away for Christmas it might be worth drawing pictures of each stage of bedtime with your child and reading this each evening leading up to staying somewhere new. This will help prepare them and you for what to expect and how you want to manage this change to the environment. For example, you might be popping them in their PJs earlier or missing bathtime.
Getting them excited to go to bed
We all hate to be dragged away from the excitement. To get them to go into their room you could try this:
- Placing a small note or hand-drawn picture under their pillow,
- Hiding one of their Christmas presents in bed for them to sleep alongside (For 12 months plus only)
- Getting ready for sleep is all about connection and containing big feelings before getting them calm and sorted for sleep. Focus on these things and be patient, prepare for things to take a little longer and avoid getting frustrated.
Whatever you do this Christmas, roll with it and manage sleep as it comes! You know where we are. If things go a little wonky you can be sure to find lots more tips and advice from The Sleep Hub.’
Want more sleep support? If you want to learn more about sleep and have lots of guidance at your fingertips for your family's sleep I share all the information you need in a step-by-step Handbook that covers IT ALL when it comes to sleep.
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With Imogen
We’ve teamed up with Imogen from The Little Sleep Company to offer expert baby sleep support for parents, allowing families to truly flourish.
