Bedtime is a nightly battle for parents all over the country. For some families, getting kids to willingly go to sleep at all is a stretch, so the idea of a truly early bedtime may seem impossible! At 5 Little Monkeys, we're on a mission to help kids everywhere get better sleep by offering the best mattress for kids on the market, but in addition to our organic kids mattress, we strive to be a resource for every aspect of sleep hygiene. With that in mind, here are some tips to make insanely early bedtimes work for your kids.

How to Get Your Kid to Go to Bed Earlier

Every child is different, and different bedtimes work for different families. But chances are, your child should be going to sleep earlier than they are. A study of 5-year-olds found out that kids who go to bed after 9pm were 50% more likely to be obese and gain weight over time than those who went to bed earlier, and other research has shown that kids with late bedtimes are more likely to be overweight even if they sleep the same number of hours as kids with earlier bedtimes. And it's not just weight that bedtime affects: bedtime and sleep quality have wide-ranging impacts on everything from mental acuity and cognitive development to emotional health.

For working parents, though, getting a kid to go to sleep at 7pm can seem almost impossible. And that's ok: remember, every family is different. But even small changes to your child's bedtime can have a big impact over time. For example, by prepping your child's dinner in advance, you can feed them right when you get home from work, which will help make the early bedtime seem more tolerable. If you have a nanny, try asking them to feed your child earlier or having them start the bedtime routine before you get home. Even moving bedtime up by 20 minutes can have a dramatic impact on your child's health and development over the long-term.

Try Our Organic Kids Mattress Today

Of course, one problem many parents face is that their child's mattress simply isn't giving their growing body what it needs for healthy sleep – and that's where we come in. Our world-class sleep system is designed support kids for truly healthy sleep, turning bedtime into a dream come true. Order it online or contact us to learn more today!