Connect during Bedtime

Bedtime for any young kids can be a stressful time of the day.

I am one of those mums who believes in routine. I’m not terribly strict with it, but I believe children thrive with a bit of structure to their day. This is why we have put a particular routine in place to help my two CODAs feel safe and comfortable when it comes to going to sleep.

Here are my tips for establishing a bedtime routine for CODA (deaf too) children:

Wind Down Time

After dinner we tend to have some time in the livingroom to just have a cuddle in front of the TV where it is nice and quiet compared to our usually jam packed noisy days. I think this quiet time helps ease my kids into the calming down before bed.

Short Story

I know some kids are persistent on having 2 or 3 books read to them every night, but after a long, tiring day, my kids are quite happy to have quite a short book sign/read to them or listening through app (EPIC or other read aloud apps). Sometimes, they watch signed book on youtube.

Songs

Sometimes, I let kids pick one song to sing and we sing and sign it quietly together. I try encourage not to get too wild and into dancing. My kids love to dance.

Night Light and White Noise

Having a night light isn’t out of the ordinary for any kids, and I added white noise to help my kids to sleep without complain hearing my noise. Before the light is out, my kids like to blessing the room with the dreamcatcher and of course a hug, kiss and "good night."

We have been using this bed time routine for a really long time now and it helps.

Rima Cornish

Mother of two CODAs

(If any of you want to share your bedtime routine, reach me and I can add some more routine advices)