School is Starting, Ready or Not!

August 8, 2017

Five Preparation Tips for a Successful School Year

Tip 1) Bring a good attitude to school.

Prepare your child for the new school year. Vacation time is coming to an end. The travels, swimming and sleep in mornings are almost over. A new school year brings excitement, anticipation but also some fears and worries. Before school starts, talk with your child about the coming year. Ask them about their fears and hopes. Write down their thoughts and have fun reviewing the list at the end of the school year. Help your child become excited about the start of a new school year.

Tip 2) Get organized.

Each night prepare what your child needs to bring to school the next day. Collect the papers, books or items needed for the following day. Lay out the clothes they will be wearing.
Gathering everything together the previous night makes the morning go a lot smoother. It also prevents trying to find a missing shoe in the morning when you are already late. When you are prepared, it is possible to get into the car with everyone still in a good mood.

Tip 3) Provide enough sleep.

Prepare for school by making sure your child had enough sleep the night before. How much sleep does your child require? Check out the recommendations by the National Sleep Foundation. Count backward from the time your child needs to get out of bed each morning. This will tell you when your child’s bedtime should be.
I always recommend an early bedtime. The early sleep is the most restorative for your child’s body and brain. I usually recommend that early elementary and pre-school age children should be in bed by 7:30 PM.

Tip 4) Provide a bedroom that invites sleep.

Prepare your child’s sleep environment to encourage sleep. Keep their bedroom dark with room-darkening blinds or curtains. A dark room will make it easier for your child to go to bed when it is still light outside.
Use a white noise machine to block noise which could interfere with their sleep.

Tip 5) Choose what is important.

Your child will learn to value what you value.

– Make learning and reading books together a priority. Enjoy book reading as a part of the bedtime routine each night.

– Do not over whelm your child with too many extra activities in the evening. Try to schedule sports or other events on one evening or one weekend day.

-Teach your child that sleep is important. During sleep, their brain takes what they learned and moves it into long-term memory. Sleep is just as important as the time they spent in their classroom.

-A well-rested child has an easier time managing their own emotions and behavior. This makes it easier for the child to behave in the classroom, participate and learn.

Following these Five Tips will lead to a more enjoyable and successful school year.

Arlene Fryling

Arlene is a registered nurse and certified sleep consultant for children 0-5 years. She has cared for premature, sick, and many healthy babies. For over 15 years she has taught expectant parents how to care for their newborns through classes teaching basic baby care, infant massage classes, and moderating support groups for new moms as they deal with parenting issues.

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Testimonials

Alix Kron

★★★★★

4 months ago

We cannot say enough positive things about our experience working with Arlene!! We were desperate for sleep, going almost 5.5 months with frequent wake ups, nursing back to sleep, nonstop crying during the day, screaming in the car and becoming more and more hopeless as time went on without having success … Arlene changed all of that within no time. She listened to exactly what was going on for us, developed a sleep plan specific to our daughter’s needs/our goals and was so supportive and answered all of our questions along the way. It was very easy to follow the plan that she developed and it included naps and weaning off of night feedings. We saw a difference in our daughter almost immediately! Arlene has absolutely transformed our lives and given us the ability to enjoy each other and feel so much better getting the sleep we all want and NEED! Our daughter is now sleeping 11-12 hours per night, eating only once overnight as opposed to every 1-2 hours, is on a great nap schedule and is so much happier!!! It’s the best money we’ve spent.

Adrienne G.

★★★★★

2 years ago

We worked with Arlene to sleep train our 22 month old son who had been bed sharing and nursing to sleep. She helped us develop a sleep plan that was specific to our son's needs. It addressed both his nighttime sleep and his naps. It really took the guess work out of the endeavor, because as a parent, even if you read all the sleep books, there are many different opinions and it is hard to know what is right. Arlene was attentive, flexible and available to answer all of our questions and concerns. I would highly recommend working with her! Our son now sleeps 11-12 hours a night and put himself to sleep on his own. Sleep training him has been a game changer for me (I sleep now too!) and for him. He seems well rested and his development seems to be progressing faster now too. His language skills are flourishing since he is getting better rest.

Amanda C

★★★★★

4 years ago

We just wrapped up our second time working with Arlene, and had another great experience! Arlene helped us sleep train our first baby a few years ago when she was 4 months old at the time. She was a terrible sleeper, waking up once every hour and needing to be rocked to sleep for what felt like hours and hours each day. I was a stressed, exhausted, and worried first time mom, and I was drawn to Arlene’s calm and experienced approach. She gave us an option for a gentler strategy that worked for us at the time, and was detailed and responsive in her sleep plan and attentiveness. Our daughter just turned 2.5 years old and is still a great sleeper. So once our second baby turned 4 months recently, we did not hesitate to work with Arlene again. We now have two rockstar sleepers in our household, thanks to Arlene! It means the world to us that she was there to help guide us, instill confidence, and most importantly, help teach our children such a valuable skill they will undoubtedly benefit from for the rest of their lives.

Begoña Cirera

★★★★★

2 years ago

Arlene helped me first with my first son who was 2.5 year old when I hired her. He slept with me during breastfeeding. He never wanted to sleep in his crib. I was due with my second, and I needed better rest, and had no clue how to get him to sleep away from my bed. I even had to sleep w him during naps, or he wouldn’t sleep. I had to walk him for hours to fall asleep every night. It was awful. Two weeks after Arlene helped us create a program for him, he was done!!! He was sleeping in his own room, all night (12+ hours) and he was SO HAPPY during the day. We learned so much, and all made so much sense. After trying methods and books, nothing worked. My son is almost 6, and he falls asleep at 7:30pm every evening, until 7:00am. As a parent, you know how precious those hours are. With my second one, I didn’t make the mistake of waiting until he was two to train him to sleep. By 3 months, we slowly started, with Arlene’s help. I never had to walk him or be there for him to fall asleep. He’s now 3, and he is a great sleeper, much better than his big brother ever was, still takes 90-min naps, and sleeps 11 hours a night. Every penny I spent to hire Arlene’s expertise is worth it. My only regret was not to look for her sooner. Lifesaver, 100%.

Abbey Stidam

★★★★★

6 years ago

Arlene Fryling at Gentle Touch Sleep Time helped our son sleep, which helped us sleep! We were having trouble transitioning our son (4 months at the time) from his rock-n-play to the crib and our amazing sleeper since birth was all of a sudden not sleeping very much. Arlene talked with us about what was going on with his sleep and why the change in his sleep pattern. She answered all our questions and calmed our worries and frustrations. She came up with a sleep plan that worked for our family. She guided us every step of the way. He is now an amazing sleeper again! He is 18 months old and sleeps 12 hours at night and takes a 1 1/2 - 2 hour nap. He loves to sleep and never fights sleeping. I am so thankful we had Arlene Fryling help us and we were able to teach our son to sleep.