As a bonus: When you do this, you'll find yourself getting your sleep and it will greatly benefit your health in terms of sleep quality. The last of these was a tough one to pull off. Not every night will be the same (and thus, not every night will "work"). But if you're willing to experiment and give it some tries, the consistency will probably work for you. Do you do any of these to get to sleep faster? If so, let me know in the comments and why you think it works. Or if you have a favorite thing that works better for you, I'd love to hear about that as well. Thanks! This blog contains affiliate links. What this means is that I may make a small commission when you, the reader purchase a product or service through an affiliate link from this blog. This helps support the costs of running the blog and allows me to continue providing free content. Thank you for supporting me through my affiliate links. If you have any questions about how an affiliate link works, please reach out and I'll be happy to help! Thank you for visiting Curbly today and thank you for supporting our small business! You know, this stuff can get a little complicated and it can be hard to know how to get started. My husband and I have done some of this and it does help, but with two kids and our own work in our little startup, finding time for one another was nearly impossible. So, we fell into a pattern. Bed time is a time to work on our computers, watch television, or even play some games. And when my husband and I have been in bed for awhile, we have to stay quiet and just say "good night" to each other. But you make a good point with respect to the kids. We definitely use technology around them to the extent possible. I'm reading the book "Taming The Tech Monster" now (I'm a fan of the author, Dr. Kevin Leman). It's a terrific book about why we need tech, how we can protect ourselves and our children from the negative aspects of it, and how we can better use it to build skills, productivity, and friendships. I guess it depends on your child. Some kids are good about asking for quiet time, others not so much. I wouldn't necessarily put a clock on the wall. But yes, bedtime should be quiet. As someone who worked in a daycare center for a decade, I never knew what was going on with a kid at home unless they told me. I've found that a lot of kids have to have limits set. It doesn't matter whether they are 5 or 14 or even 22, they need boundaries. My daughter is 22 and has told me more than once that she's tired of hearing me nag about doing homework and cleaning her room. But now that she is living on her own and starting to work, the nagging has ceased to exist. But I'm glad it came to an end before she hit the legal drinking age. I definitely agree with the no technology during sleep time. We don't even use the TV! When I was growing up, I can remember mom coming in my room around 10 or 10:30 to read me a book and tell me goodnight. Then I would get the comfy chair in my room, get in bed, and read until my eyes got tired. My dad, on the other hand, was always busy at work when I was a child, so I was raised sleeping in the living room! As an adult, I get cranky when I can't sleep. My husband and I have a policy that no one comes in my room or the bedroom after the child has gone to sleep, so no one can disturb me if they wake up during the night. But when he was little, I used to climb in bed with my kids and read them a story. I didn't make them sleep in bed, but we both got some great bedtime stories before I tucked them in. My family has similar practices, too - although it varies sometimes, depending on what the weather is like or if our routines are interrupted by something. My wife reads to the children. As adults, we don't spend the time we should with each other in bed - just enough time to say goodnight and be asleep - so it's a bit of a ritual that helps. We've done this since before my oldest was born. We've all been adults long enough that if we're really dead-tired, we can work with a child on going to sleep at bedtime without our brains in neutral, but I don't think it's something you can just start from scratch with one kid! Maybe they could try one night, just to see if it would work? The one thing we didn't have when my kids were younger was a good comfy chair - I had a rocking chair and they both had rocking chairs, but since those were also toys we played with I didn't use them for reading them a book. We do use the rocking chair for our kids now, but it's nice to be able to use it for something else while they have it out. As an aside, the idea of having a good night of sleep as an adult is so important, and something I know has helped me. As adults, we're more likely to have better days if we go to bed and get up at the same time every day, and it's easier to have a good sleep pattern when you're not living out of a backpack for years at a time. It makes all the difference in my work. The other benefit is that I'm more likely to function better the next day. I will say that I don't know what the big deal is. We have TVs and iPads in our room. And even when we get to the end of a day there is always time to give the children their bedtime stories. But I'm fine with it. Our kids know that no matter what, after story time they have to go to bed. I am an immigrant and I have two kids who both love TV and computers. My oldest child is 9 and she loves to watch TV and play computer games, while my younger one is 5 and is obsessed with reading books. I am not that into being physically active, but my kids love to run around in the yard and play board games. It makes me feel good that my kids have active healthy lifestyle. I make sure I give them a nutritious dinner and that I do get my 10,000 steps each day. We do not watch TV during dinner or play computer games, nor do I use a computer to read blogs at night. Instead, we play board games together. We have a huge walk in closet and I think it is our favorite place to hang out. Both my kids and I love to explore it and do their own activities when they get tired. But, I don't do the computer in our bedroom at night, even though they are both still awake (5 and 7). I am a big believer of giving them their rest. You know, we've got some similar views on TV. We don't have a TV in our bedroom, but my husband and I both enjoy reading books at night together, rather than using technology. We also make time for bedtime movies, and one thing we've really grown to love are the YouTube videos, where I will turn off the tv, bring out a movie for the kids and read a book to them, and we'll all watch some cartoons. It's just something that we've developed as a family. I know a lot of families use the morning routine, and it seems like something that would be good for our family! Love this idea! I am always trying to fit in some kind of activity after dinner or before bed. My kids love playing with toys in their room and I am not a mean mommy who wants to shoo them away. So we play while i make dinner. We make dinner together but then they are on their own to play. It's easier on me and makes me feel like we are still playing together instead of all fighting over the play dishes. My kids know that when they go down for bed the bedroom TV is off and they can't watch Netflix. The one thing that I always do is check my children's rooms before I go upstairs. I don't want to do this one night and find that my child has a mess all over the room. My husband would probably kick my ass, but you get the picture. However, I do put toys away the next morning. Most of the time they will put their toys away during the day. It's just a habit I picked up a long time ago. My kids know that if they clean their rooms and clean their toys at night that we don't need to go through that again during the day. This helps me because it's hard to get dinner ready for two or three hungry boys when they are arguing about whose toy got left out or whose dirty clothes were left in their hamper. But I love that I have control over this. Also, my mom never allowed me to do my homework in the room at night so I know that she had the right idea. I was just starting a household about 4 months ago and we have done everything