Author’s practical guidance
Sleep has not come back after you changed the evening
Source named in the book: bedtime routine research (Mindell)
You moved the slot earlier, you left a gap before the routine and you kept the steps the same.
Say this now
“Same as every night. Bath, then books.”
The routine, said out loud, unchanged.
“I'll check on you. I always do.”
A promise you can keep, which is why it settles them.
Do this
- Hold one routine for two weeks without altering anything else in the evening.
- Keep a rough sleep log — down, asleep, wakings, up — on paper, not from memory.
- Note the snoring and any mouth breathing, because they get asked about.
- Change nothing else meanwhile.
- Take the log with you rather than trying to describe a month of nights from memory.
Avoid this
- Making another change every few days. Nothing gets a fair test and you learn nothing.
- Assuming it must still be the screen. You have already tested that.
- Waiting another two months. Two weeks of a stable routine is a fair trial.
TALK TO YOUR DOCTOR IF
- Two weeks of a steady routine has changed nothing.
- They snore most nights, or mouth-breathe asleep.
- They stop breathing briefly, gasp or choke in their sleep.
- They are sleepy or hard to rouse during the day.
- Night waking has increased steadily over months.
Why the book suggests this
You moved the slot earlier, you left a gap before the routine and you kept the steps the same. Most of the time that is enough, and the nights settle within a couple of weeks.
When they do not, the screen was probably not what was keeping them up. Sleep at this age is disturbed by a long list of ordinary things, and several of them are worth a doctor rather than another adjustment at home. Continuing to change the evening at this point mostly costs you time.
Related prepared situations
What happened next?
From this collection
Same Words: Every Screen
45 prepared situations in this family area.