When Bedtime Feels Hard: Gentle, Practical Ways to Help Children Settle

Bedtime can be one of the hardest parts of the day for parents.

If your child struggles to fall asleep, wakes frequently, seeks extra closeness, or finds bedtime emotionally overwhelming, you are not alone.

In this gentle, calming episode of Under the Moonlight with Penelope Willis, we explore why bedtime can feel so hard for young children and parents alike, and most importantly, what truly helps.

This episode is packed full of practical, proven bedtime tips that parents can use straight away, shared in a calm, reassuring way. Drawing on years of early years experience and real family life, Penelope gently walks you through simple, effective strategies that support better sleep and emotional security.

You’ll hear guidance on: • Why predictability and routine help children feel safe at bedtime

• How daytime movement, outdoor play, and physical activity affect sleep

• The calming power of warm baths and gentle evening transitions

• Why a small bedtime snack can make a real difference

• How shared story time supports emotional regulation and settling

• Using a calm, hushed voice and stillness to help children unwind

• Supporting children who seek extra closeness at night

• Why sleep difficulties affect the whole family, and why that matters

This episode is especially for parents who feel exhausted, unsure, or worried about bedtime struggles, and need reassurance alongside genuinely useful advice.

Everything shared here is offered as gentle suggestions, not pressure. There is no “perfect bedtime”, just small, supportive changes that help children feel safe, soothed, and ready for rest.

If you enjoy listening to this episode and would prefer to read about this topic, there is a companion blog available on Penelope’s website covering the same ideas in written form.

You can also explore Penelope’s collection of calming picture books, thoughtfully written to support bedtime, reassurance, and emotional connection for young children.

🌙 Companion blog and calming books available here:

👉 https://www.booksbypenelopewillis.co.uk

Thank you for being here.

When children grow up and leave home, parenting doesn’t end, it changes.

In this gentle, supportive episode of the Under the Moonlight Podcast, children’s author Penelope Willis explores what it really means to live with an empty nest and a full heart.

This episode is for parents whose homes feel quieter than they used to, and who are learning how to hold pride, love, and tenderness all at once as their children build lives of their own.

Drawing on personal experience of sons moving away for university, living abroad, and starting new chapters, Penelope talks honestly and reassuringly about:

navigating the emotional shift of empty nest life

staying connected with adult children who live far away

embracing new routines, new families, and new normals

finding comfort, purpose, and pride as parenting changes shape

understanding that love doesn’t shrink with distance, it expands.

This episode offers calm encouragement, gentle perspective, and practical emotional support for parents adjusting to life after children leave home. It’s not about loss, it’s about growth, connection, and learning how to love from a little further away.

If you’re searching for comfort around empty nest feelings, parenting adult children, or how to stay close when children live elsewhere, this episode is here to sit with you quietly and remind you that you’re not alone, and that you’ve done something very right.

You can also read a gentle companion blog post to this episode, Empty Nest, Full Heart, on my website, where I explore these thoughts in a little more depth.

Empty Nest, Full Heart. When Parenting Changes Shape. / Under the Moonlight - Comforting Stories Blog | Books by Penelope Willis https://share.google/3OYlNR7QG7ZS7Xl2V

Oscar and the Whispering Cloud is a gentle, calming bedtime story read aloud in a soft, soothing voice, like a lullaby in story form.

Perfect for listening together with your little one, this relaxing children’s bedtime story helps create a peaceful bedtime routine and a sense of safety and comfort at the end of the day. With slow, reassuring language and a dreamy, calming tone, it’s ideal for winding down before sleep.

This episode is especially suited for:

Toddlers and young children

Sensitive or anxious little ones

Children who struggle to settle at bedtime

Parents looking for a calm, gentle story to share at night

Oscar and the Whispering Cloud is a comforting story about reassurance, love, and feeling safe, making it a beautiful choice for bedtime, rest time, or quiet moments together. Many parents also find it deeply relaxing to listen to alongside their child.

A perfect bedtime story for children aged 2–6, designed to soothe busy minds, slow breathing, and gently guide little listeners toward sleep.

Written and read by Penelope Willis, author of calming stories for little people.

Also available as a beautifully illustrated children’s bedtime story book https://amzn.eu/d/6lLRovO