I have one kid that falls asleep within two minutes of turning out the light, but the other one . . . it can take hours. We’ve tried several things, but the most helpful to date is The Smiling Mind App, a mediation app I downloaded at the suggestion of a friend. It wasn’t/isn’t a cure all, but it has definitely helped and my daughter loves it. Plus, it is FREE.
Smiling Mind is a not-for-profit organization whose mission it is to provide accessible, life-long tools to support healthy minds. And we all know that needs to start at a young age. The app has dedicated programs for children and adults, as well as ones for classrooms and the workplace. The four meditations we use for sleep have titles like Thought Catcher, Bedtime Butterfly, Golden Glow, and Floating on a Cloud. They range from 5 minutes and 24 seconds to 17 minutes and 55 seconds. Sometimes, depending on the night, we might even do two.
We like to do the app already tucked into bed with the lights off (but you can do whatever works for you). I leave my phone by the door so that I can come back in the room to pick it up when the meditation is over without waking them up. On occasion I’ve stayed and fallen asleep before my daughter. The Australian accent is very soothing after all!
