A Guide Down Technique to Help Get Children to Sleep

Is your child fighting you on going to bed? You can use guided Imagery and deep rhythmic breathing to put your children to bed. Using a simple guide-down technique and numbers to count down as you verbally take them into the sleep state while at the same time breathing in slowly and deeply in through the nose and out through the mouth.

Darken the child's room, you don't have to but I like to play very soft background music or white-noise for my children. Tell them to calm themselves down and get comfortable. Tell them to close their eyes. Explain that it is time for bed and to let the day's events drift in and out of their thoughts. Using a monotone voice say the following...

"I am going to count down now from 10 to 1 and as I do keep breathing and focus on your body and how it is relaxing with each number becoming heavier and more relaxed. "

10. Feeling tired and ready for bed.

9.

8. Feel your body relaxing and growing heavier as you lay in bed breathing. Deep breaths slowly in and slowly out.

7.

6. Imagine the feeling you feel when you have to wake up in the morning for school. How you just want to stay asleep in your nice warm bed. Let that same feeling take you into that dream world of deep deep sleep.

5.

4.

3. Your eyes are closed and the feeling of sleep is heavy on your body. Give into that feeling of sleep. Let it take over. Feel yourself falling asleep.

2. You can feel yourself drifting on the seas of your mind where you can visit all the worlds your imagination can conjure.

1. Sleep, dream, sleep

Use this technique when you want some alone time in the evening or to have that romantic hour with that special someone before going to bed and falling asleep. You will wonder why you hadn't tried this sooner. It's a great way to get the kids to go to sleep. They will look forward to that time with Mom or Dad listening to your voice as you guide them into deep sleep. Thanks for reading and sweet dreams.