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Boring story tapes / music to help 3yo drift off

11 replies

moggle · 28/06/2018 23:51

We’ve been having a terrible time with my 3.5yo’s sleep for about the past 6m... taking a long time to go to sleep, and then waking in the night and being awake for 1-2 hours. Started when I was heavily pg with twins who are now 6m, so all very understandable, but it’s really reaching a peak the past few weeks with the very light evenings. My DH is going back to work after 3m off, in the next few weeks and we just aren’t going to be able to deal with her waking as well as the babies every night.
Last two nights I have had success playing her the YouTube video (well, audio) of a hypnotist reading The rabbit who wanted to go to sleep.
She’s usually awful, wriggling around, talking and singing to herself, it jus takes ages for her to switch off. Listening to the story made her lie there quietly and she fell asleep much faster. I was wondering if ther were any other similarly boring stories I could play for her to have the same effect? On CD or doWnloads. They don’t have to be hypnotising! Just dull! We do read to her before bed but she is so interested in her books; asking questions and “reading” the words for us, they don’t seem to relax her at all.
Or would relaxation tracks work at her age?! I loved my pregnancy hypnotherapy CDs!
Thanks in advance...

OP posts:
SummerofDoom · 29/06/2018 00:00

The elephant who wanted to fall asleep works for my two! We also have grimm's fairytales, Anderson's fairytales, the railway children, 5 children and it, the lion the witch and the wardrobe.

I find they have to be the right mix of interesting and calming, if they're too boring they just get back out of bed and start messing about again! If they lay still long enough listening then they fall asleep :-)

Alanamackree · 29/06/2018 00:07

Try the moshi twilight app. The stories aren’t structured with a beginning middle and end (which is stimulating) and use music that mimics the heart beat or some such.

Mrspig86 · 29/06/2018 00:09

Radio 4 or 5 live? They send me to sleep

eternalopt · 29/06/2018 00:23

Look up "rockabye baby" songs on Spotify. Normal songs made into plinky plonk bedtime lullabies. Not too hideous to have to listen to as you can play "guess the real song"! They do all sorts from food fighters to Adele!!

SlowCooked · 29/06/2018 00:31

We use an app called Calm for the music...think there are a few of these sorts of apps abt. It actually works for us!

Ancientmummyofwooooos · 29/06/2018 00:35

Possible contender?

Boring story tapes / music to help 3yo drift off
Taytotots · 29/06/2018 00:42

Calm app is good and has some children's stories in their sleep stories section. They are slow paced and a lot of repetition. They work on me and my kids.

Gunpowder · 29/06/2018 00:46

Bedtime meditations for kids sends my three year old to sleep. Her sleep has also been majorly disrupted by the arrival of twins. I’m glad it’s not just us!

Hope you are getting on well Moggle.

Gunpowder · 29/06/2018 00:46

Sorry it’s by Christiane Kerr. It sends me to sleep too.

moggle · 29/06/2018 10:19

Thanks to all for the suggestions! Will look them all up. Especially like the darts one hehe!
Gunpowder it’s a big change isn’t it! Even with my DH off work there’s at most one parent “left” for DD :-( my poor indulged PFB! We’ll all get there in the end!

OP posts:
Drchinnery · 29/06/2018 18:15

Sleep baby sleep playlists on Spotify are great, even send me off! Smile

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