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6 tips on how to create a calm bedtime routine for kids

When your child’s room has been a spaceship, an art studio and a construction site during the day, how do you make a smooth transition into sleep haven mode? Here are 6 tips that can help make it easier to set up a snug sleep space that feels safe, calm and ready for wind-down time and lights out.

A dim blue children’s room with a white SLÄKT bed with storage boxes with castors underneath and an ELDFLUGA bed tent on top.
A dim blue children’s room with a white SLÄKT bed with storage boxes with castors underneath and an ELDFLUGA bed tent on top.

1. Get the toy storage sorted

For a wind-down-ready room, say goodnight to clutter. That means making sure all the day’s toys have somewhere to go when playtime is over, so there’s no tempation to start playing with them after the bedtime routine starts. Underbed storage boxes are a great way to make toys disappear. They can hold lots of different shaped toys, so tidying up is a breeze too.

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A white SLÄKT storage box with castors filled with a mix of children’s toys, pulled out onto a round blue AFTONSPARV rug.
See all children’s furniture

2. Give story time favourites their own bookshelf

Story time can be a precious moment for you and your child. When it comes to picking a bedtime story, keep things calm with a small but accessible shelf of books. This FLISAT wall storage has just enough room to display a selection of their favourite stories – rotate the display with books from a bigger shelf to keep things interesting. Want to find out more about organising children’s books? Check out our guide!

How to organise children’s books
A light wood FLISAT wall storage holding various children’s storybooks on a blue wall beside a FLISAT knob rack with 4 knobs.
How to organise children’s books

3. Create a bedtime hideaway with a tent

Bring their dreams of snuggling up in a cosy tent to life with a bed tent. Amp up the cosiness with bed textiles in fun patterns made of comforting fabric you trust against your child’s skin. Letting kids choose their own bed linen can help them feel even more secure. When you know they feel safe, you'll rest easy too.

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A white SLÄKT bed in a dim blue bedroom covered in blue AFTONSPARV bed linen and with an ELDFLUGA bed tent on top.
An ELDFLUGA bed tent on top of a bed covered in AFTONSPARV bed linen with a white FUBBLA LED wall lamp under it.
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4. Mix curtains and blinds to make sleep time magical

Combine a block-out blind with a glow-in-the-dark curtain to create good sleep conditions and lift the darkness in an enchanting way. This AFTONSPARV curtain reveals a shimmering galaxy of space-related motifs once the lights go down. It makes for a much friendlier environment to drift off in, and keeps ‘scary monsters’ at bay.

A dim blue children’s bedroom with an AFTONSPARV glow-in-the-dark curtain across the window, showing glowing space motifs.

5. Be morning-ready, the night before

To get things off to a smooth start in the morning, organise! Plan the next day’s outfit and hang it up where your child can access it. A written schedule for the week can help to get the school bag packed as well as rescuing you from time-wasting last-minute hunts for sports equipment, books, toys or the other essentials needed for the day.

A blue wall with a FLISAT wall storage holding books on it next to a FLISAT knob rack with 4 knobs holding clothes and a hat.
A light grey-green RELATERA writing board and a green MÅLA whiteboard pen beside a NOJIG organiser holding more pens.

6. Find a daytime home for night-time toys

In the morning, why not finish your calm bedtime routine with your child by putting the night-time soft toy friends away for the day? You could give them their own box inside the under-bed storage. So when the time comes for all the daytime toys to be taken out, they are left alone – until it’s time for them to go back to the bed for story time and cuddles!

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A beige BARNDROM box holding soft toys including a LILLEPLUTT cat and a DJUNGELSKOG orangutan on top of a bed.
See all children’s boxes & baskets