How To: Enjoying Off-Days

How do you enjoy off days (off- from a consistent sleep schedule)? YOU CREATE AN INDEPENDENT SLEEPER.

That’s right. Contrary to popular belief a healthy, independent sleeper, is actually more capable of sleeping anywhere, and then, getting back on track once home.

Why?

It is capable because we’ve taught them that they are fully capable of falling asleep in dark rooms, with white noise without our help, so even when they are not within their familiar sleeping space, it is easy to create that environment for them.

When prioritizing sleep is the normal within your home, your little one will be a trooper on the days where consistency is not in the books.

Four Tips For Enjoying “Off- Days.”

1. Keep it short.

   1. Don’t make it a habit. Prioritize the sleep M-T when you know F-S is about to be filled with lots of sports, family gatherings, or end-of- Season festivities.

2. Prepare the Child (older kids).

   1. Explain to your older kids that they will be napping in the car, staying up past bedtime, or sleeping in the same room as cousins, or even you, the parents!

   2. Always let them know that this is the exception and when you return home, they must get back into their regular routine.

3. Encourage sleep with the regular tools you have already put in place.

   1. Room environment: maybe you can’t get it pitch black, but it at least dark.

   2. Maybe you are room sharing so you add in an extra sound machine.

   3. Maybe naps will be in a car so you bring portable sound machines.

   4. Maybe you place the child in a carrier and encourage sleep that way.

4. Create and put back the consistency once you are home.

   1. stick to the bedtime routine- make it strict for three days.

   2. early bedtimes- build up that sleep debt.

   3. sleep techniques- look at the monitor/ reassurance/ no crutch.

Creating a healthy sleeper should not create more anxiety in sleep in general, but definitely around enjoying traveling, family gatherings, and random off days.

It should allow you to know that you have the tools to put things back in place, but also confident to know that your healthy sleeper is capable of getting back into consistency.

Are you in need of creating consistency so that off-days don’t feel like normal days?

BOOK A CALL WITH ME!
Or maybe, you just need help getting back into routine after a busy Summer- look at the other support that I offer!

Your Sleep Coach, Brooke