Do you get stressed as an educator about your current childcare sleep and rest routines?

When the cries of “I’m hungry” and the number of tired tantrums begin to increase....maybe you feel your shoulders tense as you wonder how you're going to get through the next 2 hours with your sanity intact?

Will they all sleep at the same time today? 

Will you be able to support each child’s individual sleep, rest and relaxation needs within the bigger group environment in the way you are expected to? 

Will you get a break or even some lunch?

Will there be difficult conversations with parents in the afternoon because they said to keep their child awake even though that conflicts with recommended practice and you must put the wellbeing of the child first?

If any of that sounds familiar to you then keep reading as today I’m giving you 5 different strategies you can use to create a calmer transition to sleep, rest or relaxation for all children.

In early learning environments we want to create opportunities that support children to meet their individual sleep, rest and relaxation requirements. We want children in our care to feel happy, refreshed, rested and ready to engage in the afternoon activities fully... and the best way to meet that goal is to have a clear routine in place with lots of easy to understand cues that provide familiarity, trust and a calmer atmosphere to rest in .

In reality, that is often easier said than done of course - I’ve been setting up for rest times in home, occasional and centre ECE environments for over 30 years now so I KNOW it’s not all sunshine and roses or that a routine will ensure everyone magically sleeps…or even that you’ll get your full lunch break each day ... 

However, I’ve made sure this post is packed with realistic ideas and tips to help you create a less stressful Rest & Relaxation rhythm (for educators and children!) that is easily tailored to the age of children you have in care and your early years service type.

So let’s get those childcare sleep and rest routines sorted (and you looking forward to rest time again instead of fearing it!) with these 5 simple strategies.

5 Ways To Create Calming Childcare Sleep & Rest Routines

To ensure consistency and a regular, stress-free rest and relaxation routine for each child, ongoing, respectful communication and the formation of a strong partnership with families are essential.

This can sometimes feel a little overwhelming because every child and every family will no doubt vary in their preferences, expectations and cultural norms  in some way...even if you work with children all the same age.

For this reason, I always encourage educators to think about how they will react or respond to a parent or carer who comes to you with a request or demand that is very different to your service philosophy and current safe sleep practices.

Consider how you could remain sensitive to a family's values and beliefs while balancing the sleep and rest practices and standards... and always keeping the child’s safety as your first priority.

At some stage in your early childhood career, you WILL have to participate in one of those challenging conversations we all try our best to avoid, but if you reflect on these types of questions and scenarios ahead of time and put clear and consistent parent communication systems in place right from enrolment day,  you’re more likely to navigate a way through them confidently.

Trust me when I say you don’t want to underestimate the effectiveness and confidence that establishing a simple 2-way communication process will bring. It’s worth your time.

Read more about some of the family communication strategies I’ve used in various ways over the years to encourage belonging and connection here.

I find it helpful to use a ‘room orientation & goals’ type resource or checklist that can be completed with parents to collect essential information. Keep it simple to complete and think about how you will actually use the information you receive from the questions you ask. 

Your goal is to collect information that will help you to meet each child’s individual sleep, rest and relaxation needs.

At the same time, this orientation/family goals exercise also gives you the perfect opportunity to clearly explain what is feasible within a group care environment and also required as part of your service regulations and policy.

If you need some help collecting this information or using regular communication processes to inform your future planning, you’ll find step by step templates to set up consistent yet simple communication and collaboration strategies with families, conduct a smooth orientation/welcoming routine that will invite a sense of belonging and simplify those planning cycle steps in the Empowered Ed Planning Cycle & Communication Resource Guides.

Take a look at the 3-5 years Guide & Templates here

Working with babies and toddlers? You’ll find this Guide with Templates helpful.

Aim to make your job easier by being clear and consistent right from the start so you can get awkward conversations out of the way and move forward in the child’s best interests.

Do you begin your transition to rest time after lunch, just before or while still playing?

If you feel a sense of overwhelm or dread as you approach rest time each day you might not be allowing yourself...or the children, enough time to prepare.

Instead of starting music or stories right before bed or after lunch, think about what you include in your program an hour before lunchtime and up to an hour after nap time ends.

When you make this a consistent daily process beginning and ending around the same times each day with a similar series of activities/movements it helps children to feel secure and aware of what is coming next.

You are essentially giving children the cues they need to prepare physically and emotionally for the transition and what’s expected of them. 

You might have already incorporated a few of the following strategies into your current rest and relaxation routine, but if you'd like to tweak what you do at the moment (or even setup an entirely new routine), I hope you find these suggestions helpful.

Think about incorporating some sensory bean bags (we love ours from Noomi - I even have my own because they are so comfortable and like a big security blanket - especially useful for children with sensory processing challenges).

Soft cushions, mattresses, doona covers filled with foam offcuts and soft blankets also work well and all are easily washed. You’ll find more ideas and some cozy environments and reading areas shared by other educators here.

• Try to arrange your furniture so that you create a cozier enclosed space to invoke a feeling of security and also minimise distractions while still maintaining clear supervision at all times. For example, I like to turn around the puzzle/toy shelf to face a wall if on wheels or even hang a sheet or set up cushions in front so it not only creates a cozier space...it also sends a clear signal that its time now to rest and relax, not play.

• Drape coloured sheer organza or similar over fishing line, lights or some furniture to soften the area as you set out beds. 

• Turn on a string of fairy lights, a light projector or night lights around the rest area.

• When setting up your room, think about your placement of furniture to create smaller spaces within the room that can easily convert to separate sleep spaces at a different time just by moving a table to the side, putting up a few cushions as barriers to furniture or putting down a small mat on a cold hard floor. 

In this image below shared by Educator Sarah Hart you can see lots of smaller cozy ‘pockets’ that could be easily converted into sleep pockets with the addition of a few mats, stretchers or cushions...and still provide clear supervision and access.

This home corner space from Little Rays of Sunshine Family Day Care could also be easily converted during transition time to a ‘cozy pocket’ for rest or sleep just by moving the table and chairs and throwing a sheet over the ‘playthings’ on shelves etc.

My family daycare reading corner area was quickly turned into a sleep area each day just by pushing furniture back and moving the mat a little - children tend to prefer the consistency of setting up their bed in their same little space each day which is why I try to create lots of little ‘pockets’ around whatever learning space I’m working with.

Sensory integration and processing is an important step in helping children to prepare their bodies and minds for rest or sleep without feeling anxious or afraid.

You can find more information about how educators can support children with sensory processing challenges in this blog post series.

Consider including some of these tips in your transition to nap time routine.

Keep your expectations realistic by recognising that a child’s sleep needs will vary from day to day just like we as adults experience.

This is why having a system in place to regularly communicate and collect information from your partnerships with families will make rest/nap time easier for you.

I’ve listed a few of my go to activities below to help you get started putting together your own rest time box - I’m sure you can come up with many more, but remember that you want to keep them simple and better suited to individual rather than group play so children can lead the play themselves (they can of course swap around as they finish each one or grow bored). Ideally they will also require minimal support from adults.

I hope I have inspired you to take another look at your Rest & Relaxation Routine/Rhythm now and take some small steps toward making your transition to sleep time in childcare less stressful.

Do you have a rest time strategy you think other educators would love to know? Tell us about it in the comments below or our Empowered Educator Facebook Group here.