Most children and adults have to be laying still for about 10-30 minutes to start to enter Non-REM sleep. Learning to lay still can be very challenging for some children. They don’t know how to down-regulate to help their body to lay still for that amount of time.
Toddlers and older children need to be learning what they can do to help themselves get to sleep. Even adults tend to do a transitional activity for 10 minutes - reading or scrolling.
These are activities that can be included at the END of a consistent, soothing pre-sleep routine.
*Note: Keep in mind what is safe for your child to do unsupervised, depending on their age and developmental level. Anything that would fit inside of a toilet paper roll should not be given to young children until you are BEYOND POSITIVE that they won’t put it in their mouths.
There are 3 categories of falling asleep activities that I tend to recommend:
listening and reading activities
fine motor activities (things we do with our hands)
visual activities (things to look at)
Listening and reading activities
Listening and reading activities include things like:
Music or audiobooks
Sleep meditations
Talking to or reading to a lovey or stuffed animal
Reading
You might consider the Cozy Critters sleep podcast for kids. Or check out a sleep app such as:
Slumber (has both free and paid content);
Sleepiest (has both free and paid content);
Headspace (paid content, but has all kinds of content for meditation, focus, sleep, exercise, and more, including Sesame Street and Star Wars sleep stories);
Hypnosis by Joseph Clough (paid content; includes “children feel safe to fall asleep” hypnosis).
Or check out my bedtime routine playlist on Apple Music. It’s not specifically for kids, but if it feels good, why not?
I also hear that YouTube Kids has a sleep section.
Just be aware of potential distractions and blue light challenges that might come with using a digital solution, and be aware of whether your kids are staying up at night being on their devices.
Fine motor activities (things that we do with our hands)
Examples include:
drawing or coloring
fidget spinners or other fidgets
puzzles
blocks
play dough
plastic bubble “poppers”
stickers
(Again, you know your child best. Make safe choices about what your child can do unsupervised.)
Visual activities
Some infants and young children like to watch things as they fall asleep. For example,
you can make a glitter bottle to play with as a wind-down activity. (Since the purpose is to do this unsupervised eventually, please do glue the lid onto the bottle!).
You can also make a homemade projector with a toilet paper roll.
For a slightly more expensive option (but currently less than $15 as of July 2025), check out this astronaut projector or (especially for infants) the Baby Einstein aquarium. (Note that as of July 2025 I am not an Amazon affiliate, but that could change in the future).
