One of the biggest stresses parents have is getting our kids to sleep. Little kids can have trouble winding down and settling into bed, even with the best laid sleep plans. One mom on social media found a perfect perspective on getting kids to sleep, and the source is the familiar children's bedtime story Goodnight Moon.
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She made a fascinating observation
Erin Schlozman, who runs the Instagram page 4th.trimester.wellness, made a post pointing out a likely overlooked detail in the classic children's book Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown, which she points out was published in 1947.
If you look at the clock at the beginning of the book, it reads approximately 7:10 p.m. when the bedtime routine starts.
Bedtime isn't a quick process
Erin's next graphic slide shows that while they are saying good night to the comb and brush, the clock now reads 7:45 p.m., which means they've been doing the bedtime routine for about a half hour. In the next slide, she points out that bedtime concludes around 8:10 p.m.
"Dear Moms Everywhere," Erin writes. "The bunny in Goodnight Moon takes a full 70 minutes to settle into sleep. In 1947. You aren't doing anything wrong. Baby sleep is a process, not always a problem to be solved."
She's giving permission to relax about sleep
"I know. It’s really really really hard being sleep deprived. A tired mom will try almost anything. I’ve been there, I’m still there," she began the post's caption. "And, what would happen if we took a different approach to the way we pathologize infant, newborn, toddler, school aged sleep?"
"I’m gonna take my queue from the lady in the book and start knitting at the top of the bedtime hour," she concluded.
People were loving her advice
The comments were full of people who appreciated Erin's advice about rethinking the way we treat bedtime. And while a few had discrepancies about the amount of time it took, the message was the same.
"It takes us close to 60 min on an average night. Our son just has so much energy and wiggles right before bed… we let him take his time getting settled. Thanks for this post!!" one comment read.
"I love this so much! Personally, for me, not focusing on the clock helped me mentally through bed time because an hour or two can become a little disheartening and hard not to turn on yourself (even if it’s not about you)," someone wrote.
"I JUST noticed this yesterday with my toddler after reading it to my kids for 10 years!!! ♥️ hour long bed routine. The full moon rising. The fire dying down. Love it," another person said.
