The day had come. He had learned how to climb out of his crib, and it was time for a “big kid bed.” So how do you know when it’s the ideal time? And how do you make this transition as easy as possible for everyone?
Most parents acknowledge that the quiet consistency of a bedtime routine is comforting and calming for their children, but parents rarely reflect on the effect the bedtime routine has on themselves. At least one research study suggests that regular routines buffer/decrease parenting stress, which in turn has a positive effect on children’s emotions, behavioral regulation and readiness to learn.
Do your kids ever ask for just one more story at bedtime? If your kids are anything like Daniel Buelhoff’s, this is a nightly occurrence. And for Daniel, life gets in the way of being able to read his daughters as many stories as they’d like each night. So he created a new-age storytelling device that his daughters could fall asleep to even when he was away or short on time to read many stories.
According to a study published in the Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, fathers who engage with their children through shared book reading see a boost in their own parenting skills while also raising their preschooler’s school readiness and behavior.