Bedtime: what routine to adopt to avoid conflicts with your children ?

Des scientifiques lèvent le voile sur les habitudes à adopter pour éviter les conflits avec les enfants à l'heure du coucher. freemixer/Getty Images

"Mom, I'm thirsty!", "Dad, I want to go to the bathroom", "I' #39;I'm not sleepy : how many times have parents had to face their offspring's desire to do everything possible to delay bedtime ?

Contrary to popular belief, this behavior reflects a real anxiety felt by the little ones at nightfall. This is what American scientists reveal, who recommend putting in place consistent rituals to help children overcome this hurdle.

Parents or children, you must have suffered – or been at the origin – of one of these fierce confrontations perpetrated at bedtime. On the one hand, there are the youngest, always inclined to scrounge for a few minutes, or even a few hours for the most determined, to somehow avoid falling into the arms of Morpheus. On the other hand, there are the parents, torn between the desire to guarantee sufficient sleep for their toddler(s) and the desire to take a breather after a long day, whose patience is severely tested . Two rooms, two atmospheres. But in the end, a perpetual conflict which can lead parents to make decisions which will have long-term repercussions on the sleep of their child(ren).

That's according to a new study led by researchers at C.S. Mott Children's Hospital, affiliated with the University of Michigan. Through a major national survey on children's health, well known in the United States, scientists recall the importance "of ;#39;establish a consistent bedtime routine". And to specify: "When children do not get enough rest, it can have an impact on their physical development, their emotional regulation and their behavior".

The researchers, who interviewed 781 parents of children aged 1 to 6 last February, drew two main lessons from this work: most children are unable to sleep because they are anxious or worried, while that some parents resort to makeshift strategies that can cause, if not worsen, their child(ren)'s sleep problems in the long term. "When the transition to & “Bedtime becomes a nighttime conflict, some parents may adopt habits that work at the moment, but could put them at risk for sleep problems later,” says Sarah Clark , co-director of the C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health, in a press release.