It’s summer - which you of course already know…but that’s besides the point.  For parents, summer means nights when it doesn’t get dark until after bedtime - that creates special challenges when it comes to putting your kids to sleep.

My kids have pretty set patterns for sleep - typically in bed before 8pm.  So, when it doesn’t get dark until 8:30 they tend to have a few problems getting down and staying down for the night.  We’ve tried everything - from putting them to bed earlier - nope that doesn’t work - they still don’t go to sleep right away and worse they are crankier when they wake up in the morning.  Putting them down later - that just leads to meltdowns of epic proportions.  Shutting the blinds - can’t do that because it covers the airconditioner and when it’s 100 degrees that’s just not a good idea.

You get the point.  So, I’m reaching out - what do you do to get your kids to sleep in the summer?  Is there anything to do or do you just bear with it and wait for fall?

Are you getting a lot of sleep? No? Neither am I. If you are - then good for you!

Many parents of children are sleep deprived. You may have an infant who is up multiple times a night, a toddler scared of the things that are under the bed, or a teenager who is up late doing homework (or coming in after curfew). One thing is for sure - sleep deprivation sucks. I know that there are some people who can live on 5 hours of sleep a night (my husband used to be one of them). I however, would love to get 12 hours a night - EVERY night. That of course doesn’t happen with 2 little ones under the age of 3.

This week - I got to hear Jodi Mindell, the author of: Sleeping Through the Night, Revised Edition: How Infants, Toddlers, and Their Parents Can Get a Good Night’s Sleep speak. She had great advice for parents of kids of all ages. I thought I’d share some of it.

For little ones - the tried and true - teach them how to fall asleep on their own by putting them down while they are drowsy. Heard that before - here’s something new - it’s ok to take it slow. Start with small milestones. If they’re used to being nursed to sleep. Stop nursing and just hold them to sleep, if they’re used to falling asleep while out on a family walk, put the stroller inside and walk, once you’ve mastered that have them fall asleep in the stroller while it’s stationary…and progress to falling asleep in the bed.

For those with kids who are scared of the dark - it might sound silly - but she swore it worked - use “monster” spray (water in a spray bottle) to spray down the room and make the monsters go away. Cute idea!

Have a kid who get’s out of bed too early, or won’t stay in bed all night? Grab a timer (at any home improvement store) and set their bedroom light on the timer. Tell them they can’t get out of bed until the magic light turns on. Love it!

What about teenagers? I don’t’ have one of these yet, but she did talk about the pressures of extra-curricular activities combined with schoolwork and social lives. Add in the texting and IM’ing all night and it’s no wonder they aren’t sleeping. Try to get the television, computers and yes cell-phones out of their room at night - without the distractions sleep may come easier.

She had some great advice - good enough that I even went to go pick up her book - even better stuff in there! Need some quick advice that doesn’t require a book? Check her column for Parenting magazine out. Let me know what you think!