Changing your life to have children when both you and your partner have full-on, time-consuming careers is a big decision to make. When you have a child, life is no longer about hitting those targets on Monday morning and working late at the office whenever you need to. Suddenly, there’s a little person that doesn’t just have to be majorly factored into your routine—but completely prioritised!

And although you may feel like you’re making up for any lost time when you get home to play with them in the evenings, you may not notice that your absence is affecting one of the most important parts of their routine: their sleep.

A child’s sleep is one of their most essential biological needs, and when they’re going through preschool age, it’s essential that you, as their parent, understand how to cater to their sleep needs. When both parents have full-on lives at work outside the home, disruption of the children’s sleep is a common occurrence, which can affect them in many areas of their lives.

So, let’s understand a bit more about why ensuring your child has enough sleep is so crucial and what you can do to ensure they get it—even when you have a full-on work life!

Why is it important to ensure my child gets enough sleep?

Everyone needs enough sleep to function properly and to be able to succeed in and enjoy life. But young children in particular need regular, good-quality sleep to develop in a healthy way. Here are some of the main reasons why sleep is so important for your child at this age and how a full-on work lifestyle can affect this:

Children have a biological time for nighttime sleep to start. Just as we naturally start to get tired at a certain point in the evening, children have a biological time that they need to go to sleep at night. If you return home late from work wanting to play with them before going through the motions of feeding, bathing, and bedtime, then you are pushing their natural bedtime further and further back.

Overtiredness can build over time, causing your child to be sleep-deprived. Even if it may not be immediately obvious, if you don’t take proper control over your child’s bedtime and overall sleep patterns, then they will eventually show signs of being extremely overtired, irritable, fussy, and short-tempered, and bedtime battles and night wakings may also start to happen.

Now that we understand why it’s so important that your child gets enough sleep, let’s look at some ways in which you can ensure they do!

How do I ensure my child gets enough sleep in a dual-career family?

By simply becoming more aware of how your lifestyle can impact your child’s sleep, you are already on your way to ensuring their sleep needs are properly met.

However, follow these points to make sure you stay on track!

Try putting your child to sleep earlier than you currently do. If you believe that your child may be sleep-deprived in the late afternoon or early in the evening, it’s a good idea to put them to sleep a little bit earlier than normal—even twenty minutes can make a huge difference! After doing this for several days, you could even consider moving their bedtime another twenty minutes earlier if they still look overtired.

Take note of your child’s behaviour and appearance during the day. If your child isn’t getting enough sleep, then it will show in their behaviour and appearance. Therefore, it’s important that you look out for signs that they could be overtired. If your child’s body is trying to tell you something, don’t ignore these messages!

Follow your instincts about your own child over advice. Although it may be helpful to follow general advice about recommended sleep duration for children their age, remember that your child is an individual, and you will have unique knowledge about them and what might work best for them.

Try not to let your fears get the better of you. It’s very common for parents who have demanding careers to worry that their children will love them less because they are having to put them to bed earlier. However, remember that the better rested your child is, the more content they will be as a whole, so the time you do spend with them is fun and enjoyable for you all. Therefore, by getting more sleep, they will be happier in their relationships with those around them, including you. Plus, if your child becomes better rested, they will also be able to stay asleep more easily, and therefore night wakings will be eliminated.

How do I ensure my child has enough sleep in a dual-career family?

On Unii’s Toddler Sleep Journey, we look at ensuring that your child gets enough shuteye when both parents work.