Dinner PalsWATCH THE ORIGINAL
Why bedtime can feel like a battle.
The video explores reasons a toddler might resist bedtime, including the relationship between a chosen bedtime and the child’s body clock.
Watch sleep series Part 1 on TikTok ↗Opens TikTok. The video is not loaded or played automatically on this website.
A useful correction to the opening hook
There is no universal 7 pm or 7:40 pm sleep switch. The clock time discussed in the video is a small study’s average. It is not a rule for your toddler, and the study does not show that every toddler has no melatonin at 7 pm.
WHAT THE RESEARCH FOUND
Body clocks vary between children.
LeBourgeois and colleagues studied 14 regularly napping children aged 30–36 months over a six-day protocol. Later evening melatonin timing was associated with longer settling, and the fit between that timing and the parents’ chosen bedtime mattered.
This was a small observational study, not a trial of Dinner Pals or a test of a bedtime that every family should use. It does not establish a guaranteed way to improve sleep.
Bring it back to your evening.
Look for a familiar, calming sequence and notice how your child responds. Avoid treating a countdown as a demand to be asleep by a particular moment. Our bedtime routine guide shows where an earlier visual cue might fit, and where to put the phone away.
If settling difficulties keep happening or concern you, discuss them with your GP or child and family health nurse. Raising Children Network’s sleep guidance is a useful starting point.
Find all five sleep-series videos →