Is your baby’s sleep schedule off track every weekend?

I always look forward to weekends!! Weekend mean no waking up early, it means no morning rush and definitely means catching up on sleep!

Weekends are universally known as days to have fun, sit back and relax and take things easy and slow.

However, as a mum, a challenge I face always is to manage the consistency of the sleep schedule for my baby.  What is a mum supposed to do when all her best laid plans for steady bedtimes and easy sleep routines get kicked away like a football? It is pretty delinquent for either a lax weekend schedule or a vacation to turn your superbly planned sleep schedule into a bad one come a working day!

The good news is that bad habits can always be turned into good ones and the worry over sleep patterns need to be shed away. The key always lies in moving back hurriedly into a consistent routine. Our kids are always bursting with enthusiasm and energy so, if your child hasn’t slept on his/her normal time for a couple of days in a row, try putting them to bed earlier as they are bound to be tired.

We sure are bound to be as tired as the baby with all the post vacation moods but its best to adapt the old schedule immediately. Vacations or holidays usually mean, late sleeping and late rising up. In such a scenario, get your child to wake up at his regular schedule, he/she will be cranky but you can always lift their mood, by making their favourite breakfast, putting on their favourite music and sometimes their favourite T.V show. I seldom bribe my child with extra playtime by waking him earlier than his normal schedule and letting him have some fun before he is off to school.

That said, its always easier to handle an occasional disruption in routine than a completely off guard schedule that falls apart every weekend. The best thing to do is to stick to the same sleep pattern even for weekends. It can definitely be challenging to manage all the to-do things that we push aside for the weekend, however that means, reorganising ourselves too and not procrastinating for the weekend. Save the disruptions for the truly special weekends, days or when they simply can’t be avoided.

It is pretty much the same for other habits too, avoid encouraging habits that you are eventually going to change. Occasionally allow a certain thing but keep it as a once in a really long while thing.

For example, we often hand over our phones/gadgets to our children and use it as a saving grace for every occasion and then it turns into a habit we dread. Engage your children into activities that use their physical and mental energy. It helps them grow into better people and obviously helps them sleep better.

As parents, we need to be able to judge where to draw a line rather than later blaming our kids for having bad habits and then draining all our energy in correcting them.

Plan your holidays and weekends along with kids, this way they will know what’s in store for them. Involve them in your weekend to-do list which will eventually make them responsible and also make them look forward to weekends and holidays.

Indulgence, lazing around, relaxing are all sometimes synonyms for holidays, we just need to ensure that we move back to our schedules once they are over. It is pretty much similar to getting back to work after a holiday 😊