Don’t let your child’s sleep suffer during a divorce

Everyone involved can feel the stress that comes along with a divorce. This includes the children. Somewhere between 20 to 30 percent of school-aged children have trouble sleeping when they are dealing with their parents’ divorce.

Fortunately, there are some ways that you might be able to help your child get a good night’s sleep. As you know, getting enough sleep is one of the things that is necessary for your child to thrive.

First, talk to your child. Find out what is on the kid’s mind. This might give you an idea of how you can approach the issue so that you can find a solution. In some cases, simply talking about the problem might help the child out.

Second, try to keep things consistent for the child. Things aren’t likely to ever go back to how they were, so you need to find the new normal for your child. Younger children might need to have a bedtime routine that is the same or similar at both homes. Other aspects of the child’s life might also need to be kept the same between homes.

Third, find ways that help your child that are sustainable. It might be tempting for you to let the child sleep in your bed, but is that something that you are willing to live with on a regular basis? If the answer is no, try to find other solutions to help your child.

The sooner that you can get a child custody agreement hashed out with your ex, the sooner you can help your child adjust to that schedule and get the consistency he or she needs. Using mediation might help you to get that agreement handled.

Source: Our Family Wizard, “4 Tips for Helping Your Child Sleep During a Separation,” accessed Aug. 18, 2017

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