Tuck in
The blanket is pulled up, the edges are tucked in and someone says goodnight. For many children it is exactly that moment that makes falling asleep possible. The picture below shows it is the last step of the day.
♀Tucking in
A girl tucks the blanket in snugly on the bed.
About this visual support
Bedtime routines often have a problem at the very end. Teeth are brushed, pyjamas are on and the story has been read, but then things get blurry. One more glass of water, one more question, one more hug. The child is searching for the ending because it cannot be seen. Tucking in is an old and simple answer to that: a short, physical action that marks that this is it for today, and that it is safe to let go.
A picture for tucking in makes that marker even clearer. Put it last in the evening schedule, after the story, so the child knows that when this card comes there is nothing left to wait for. Do it the same way every night: pull up the blanket, tuck in the edges, say the same short phrase and switch off the lamp. The repetition is the point. A concrete tip is to let the child choose which soft toy gets tucked in too, so they have their own job in the moment instead of just lying there waiting.
When tucking in becomes a fixed point, the calls after lights out usually drop. In Routined you can end the evening routine with a tuck-in step and see when it has been checked off. You can try the app for 14 days, and the visual supports here are free to download.
Use this image in a schedule
Build your own visual schedule with this image and download it as a print-ready PDF. Completely free.
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Take the visual supports with you
In Routined you build schedules from these pictures, add timers and voice instructions, and your child follows the day on their own.
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