Free sleep meditations for kids: The Swan & The Mermaid (Ages 2½ – 6)
Relax … while these clinically-proven guided sleep meditations for kids help your sweetie pie relax and go to sleep… thinking happy thoughts… and wake up in a positive mood! Take the fuss out of naptime and bedtime.
This best-selling highly-acclaimed product was created with experts at Dana Farber Institute Boston.
The Swan
This soothing bedtime (or naptime) sleep story uses clinically-proven techniques to help kids relax and fall asleep safely and easily. Story-telling techniques clinically proven for this age group are woven into this charming story.
In these meditations for sleep and healing, your child enjoys a soothing adventure with a relaxing, trusted, friend. They also teach children techniques she can use during the day… when she is apprehensive or undergoing a medical procedure.
Follow link below to download for free. Also available on: Spotify, Amazon (CD & MP3 Download) .….. iTunes…..… Google Play
These highly-acclaimed guided sleep meditation for kids feature a variety of relaxation techniques clinically proven to help children in this age group relax, fall asleep, and accelerate healing. They also teach children techniques to minimize anxiety. Each story is set to peaceful background music with chimes, strings, flutes, and waves.
These techniques diminish anxiety and are helpful for children with separation anxiety, whether it is due to a new school.. hospitalization… or just a normal phase that some sensitive children go through.
This can be useful for many applications, including helping kids fall asleep, ease their fears, and just to relax.
It helps kids use their own strategies, such as a “special friend” or a stuffed animal, to help them. I use this in my practice with kids and it is very helpful!
‘The Swan and the Mermaid’ is truly a Miracle! My 20-month son NEVER used to nap unless he was in the car….
I played the ‘Swan and the Mermaid’ for him. He NEVER naps unless he is in the car or a fast-paced stroller. I played the CD while I held him, and he was asleep in 20 minutes! Now I put him in his crib and play the ‘Swan and The Mermaid’ at nap time. It is truly a great product!
How to use these meditations for sleep and healing in the hospital and at home:
- Preview these sleep stories bedtime stories before your child listens to it… or listen to them with her the first time she listens to it.
- If your child has a favorite stuffed animal or doll let your child listen to this with his ‘friend’.
- Start playing this several weeks before your child is hospitalized for surgery, medical procedures, starting a new school, moving or discussing a divorce.
- Become familiar with these techniques… so that you can remind your child to use them. For example… remind your child to put on his magic bracelet… that helps him feel brave… during a medical procedure… or on his first day of preschool. (This bracelet is introduced in The Mermaid)
- Explain the techniques your child is learning to daycare workers, doctors, nurses, and relatives.
- If your child has an older sibling, ask the older child to listen to this too. This helps the younger child AND the older child… who feels that he is helping his younger sibling. This is particularity helpful when your younger child is sick… remember this is stressful for siblings and they will feel reassured if you find simple ways for them to help.
- Note that these stories use slightly different narrative techniques. Some children may prefer one story over the other… and their preferences may change, especially during hospitalization.
- Play this for your child during longer medical procedures.. such as visits to the dentist… or cancer treatments.
- Use this as ‘quiet-time’ aid during the day…even after your child stops taking a ‘nap’.
- Use this to make bedtimes and nap-times easier at hotels… Grandma’s house… or hospitals.
- Remember that all of the ‘options’ given to your child may sound silly to you… but this non-directive technique is important for children in certain stages of development.
A few tips to get your child to nap
So you have a 2 year old who refuses to nap? Do YOU think your 3 year NEEDS a nap… but she does not agree? Here are a few tips:
Do not refer to it as a nap… instead it is a quiet time. Explain that even adults and super-heroes need quiet times! Even when your child gets older, she will still benefit from having a quiet time in which she practices calming mind-body techniques that help her feel self assured and more in charge of her environment.
This is especially true for children who suffer from separation anxiety, which is not an uncommon stage for children to go through.
Establish a few small props that you can easily pack for travelling or the hospital.. such as a special blanket.. night light… stuffed toy or action figure… special pillow case…
Be creative, even something as simple as a using a beach towel or headphones to designate a super-hero-recharging station can make quiet time ( NOT nap time) more alluring.