It was starting to become a noticeably chronic problem for both of my girls. One of my daughter’s could not fall asleep at night and the other was waking up in the middle of the night. I suddenly went from a mom getting enough sleep at night to one being woken again. I knew my focus had to become helping children sleep and calm down or we would all struggle with sleep deprivation.

I blamed the change in sleep habits on my oldest daughter being a pre-teen. Hormones are starting to rear their ugly head which can affect sleep. Her trouble sleeping did seem to happen on days when she did not get a good amount of outdoor time.

Helping children sleep and calm down during periods of their sleep habits changing is a common struggle among many of us. The good news is I have 5 tips here for helping children sleep and calm down.

{This is a sponsored post. All opinions are my own. View my disclosure for more.}

Help Children Sleep and Calm Down

Get a lot of exercise outside

Outdoor time is a main factor in kids sleeping well at night. Even more than indoor exercise, getting the outdoor exposure to sunlight and fresh air is such a key to well rounded health for kids. It impacts us adults too!

Take a family walk in the evening. Go on a bike ride in the afternoon. Jump on the trampoline together for an hour. All of these ideas help my kids burn the excess energy and calm down at bedtime.

Reduce processed carbs and sugary snacks

When my kids eat more sugar, they are more restless at night. Helping children sleep and calm down at bedtime is affected by what we feed them all day.

We have moved to desserts only on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It helps my kids know what to expect as far as special treats.

We do leave room for a surprise treat here and there or dessert if it is someone’s birthday through the week. It is just about teaching them to realize making healthy food choices is important. I want them to learn that desserts are not for every day. No doubt the benefits of eating as healthy as we can are numerous. Getting good sleep is one.

Use a Focus Point like The Chill Pill

I was already in the process of putting together this guide for helping children sleep and calm down when I was contacted about featuring The Chill Pill. The timing was perfect since my daughters’ sleep issues had been just starting and we were running out of our natural options for supporting calming down at bedtime.

I was eager to have the kids try The Chill Pill. This unique tool gives kids – and adults – a focus point that naturally helps the calm down process and sleep.

The girls both tried it. After one night, they both were asking to use it again the next.

My 10 year old daughter said, “The Chill Pill works really well!”

The Chill Pill emits a small pulse that can be controlled with simple +/- adjustments. This way it can be customized for each child and adult’s sensory needs.

As the chemical messengers that influence and connect all of your nerve cells together, your neurons have the ability to soothe or excite the entire body, head to toe. The electronic waves lightly pulsing from the Chill Pill send the message that it’s time to relax and drift off to sleep. 

The Chill Pill can help kids experiencing anxiety, sleeplessness or focus challenges too. It is a tool for more than just sleep.

My 10-year-old held it in her hand and felt the light pulse. It allowed her to focus on something other than her thoughts. My children were used to white noise as babies. It was a helpful way to calm them down at bedtime. But as they grow that becomes a hindrance to sleep while traveling.

The Chill Pill is discreet. It makes no noise. It has a soothing repetitive pulse that helps lull the mind to calm down and sleep.

After 20 minutes the Chill Pill automatically shuts off. It can be turned back on to run again as needed, but my girls have not needed it to run more than one cycle to gain the benefits.

There is a lot flowing through kids’ minds these days. They have had to live through a pandemic and all the uncertainties that that brought.

Every generation has its stressors. We as parents have a multitude of options for helping our children sleep at night. The Chill Pill has been working well for my kids. Check it out here.

Micro-manage their bedtime routine

Keeping kids in a solid, consistent bedtime routine has helped our household calm down at bedtime. It took until they were toddlers to really find a good routine. Once we had it, we kept it going!

Even now with my kids in the teen and school age stages, we still have them get ready for bed in a routine at night. It has shifted to a later start time but it is still enforced.

The kids have a snack if they want around 7:30pm. They then put on pajamas, brush their teeth, clean up any mess laying on their floors, and play quietly until 8:30. We say our family prayer together then and the kids apply their nighttime oils.

The older kids will stay up reading in bed for an hour or so. If any of them need help falling asleep after that we use the Chill Pill.

Build Up Your Child’s Self-Esteem

The root cause of not being able to fall asleep can be many things. I am not a doctor, but I do know my children better than anyone. A couple of my children have experienced anxiety over things they have watched or transitions they have gone through due to our military lifestyle.

I focus on making our faith the center point of any parenting chat I have with my kids.

Are they living our values? Are they focusing on truth rather than what is scary and fake? We have these real, deep discussions often these days due to them having more freedom when they are out playing with friends.

We really are empowering our children’s self-esteem when we provide them the tools to navigate tough exposures and relationships. This helps them maintain their self-esteem and confidence which ultimately means they are more content at the end of the day.

That is peace of mind. Children need to learn it too.

Helping children sleep and calm down is a much bigger issue than bedtime. It is a whole person,  whole health approach to a balanced lifestyle.

With this list of tools, we have gone from two children waking up at night to children falling sleep well and sleeping all night.

The Chill Pill has been a great addition as a sleep aid in my home. My children highly recommend it.

As a mom who is once again getting full nights of sleep, I am happy to share this with you too!

What is your child’s bedtime routine like? Have you noticed your older kids having any sleep issues as they grow through the teen years?