Bedtime can be one of the best chances for you to connect with your child at the end of the day. Unfortunately, it can also turn into a state of chaos when a proper routine is not followed.
To help you build a better structure for your family and reclaim a little more personal time, we’ve curated a list of some great children’s bedtime iPhone apps you can use in the evenings.
1. Philips Sonicare for Kids
As an adult, the two minutes required for teeth brushing in the morning and night feel more like a welcomed moment of self-care rather than a tedious chore. Unfortunately for children, they often have yet to realize the lifelong benefits of good oral hygiene.
To promote healthy teeth from a young age, Philips Sonicare has developed a children’s aid for teeth brushing. “Sparkly” is a small furry creature who will act as your child’s new best friend for teeth brushing.
The app turns the chore into a challenge by offering cute games and rewards for proper teeth cleaning. You can monitor multiple children's progress in the parent dashboard.
This app is a cute and creative way to easily solidify teeth brushing as a necessary step in the bedtime routine.
Download: Philips Sonicare for Kids (Free)
2. Moshi
The bedtime stories in Moshi feature beautiful and cute characters that help guide your child towards a gentle slumber. The app’s stories include relaxing music that accompanies the characters and helps ease your child into a comfortable sleep.
The stories focus on teaching mindfulness to children from a young age to help them better understand and process their emotions. This mindfulness is supposedly able to lessen anxiety and stress all while making bedtime a more relaxed and focussed task.
The app is great for use outside of bedtime as well as it will automatically curate stories and playlists for any difficult situation.
Download: Moshi (Free trial, subscription required)
3. Apple Music
After using the Apple Music app to set the right mood for the house in the daytime, why not use it to help transfer everyone into their bedtime slumber? Apple Music is a great option for helping turn down the intensity before bed.
No matter how bad the day at school may have been, you can turn on some calming music and help your little one snuggle into bed with the right music. The app offers a wide range of calming meditation music and white noise options to help create a cool and tranquil environment inside your home.
Apple Music also includes an extensive list of lullaby options for your littlest to help put them and keep them asleep.
Download: Apple Music (Free trial, subscription required)
4. Apple Podcasts
Although Apple Podcasts is an app that many use on their morning and evening commute home from work, rarely do we consider the possibilities for bedtime use.
Apple Podcasts has a wide list of podcasts that are perfect for helping your child settle down at night. Bedtime story podcast options are a great place to start and offer continually updated content.
If your child is a fan of a particular subject, there are made-for-kids podcasts available on nearly every topic. Whether your child is an animal friend or a science sleuth, there’s a podcast to get them listening and learning before bed.
Download: Apple Podcasts (Free)
5. Kidlo Bedtime Stories
If you're working on transitioning your child to independent reading, the Kidlo app is a perfect option.
In opposition to some of the other apps here, which simply tell an audio bedtime story, Kidlo is an interactive app that teaches your child to read. Cute and colorful characters will help you teach your children some of the most basic words of either English, Spanish, or French.
The stories featured include “Princess and the Frog,” “The Three Little Pigs,” and more classics from your childhood. You'll love reading along with your child before bed using this app.
Download: Kidlo Bedtime Stories (Free trial, subscription required)
6. White Noise Deep Sleep Sounds
This white noise app is one of the best options for parents with small children. Every white noise app provides you with great background noise to help drown out both silences and loud noises. However, White Noise Deep Sleep Sounds has been designed specifically for babies.
The app has different settings for your baby that will include additional “whooshy” noises that help to simulate the womb’s comforting noises.
White Noise is showing that science and sound are the keys to a solid sleep.
Download: White Noise Deep Sleep Sounds (Free, subscription available)
7. Sleepiest Sleep Sounds Stories
This app is the perfect companion for bedtime at any age. Parents and babies can listen to a wide selection of soothing bedtime stories and relaxing white noise effects.
There is a specialty section of bedtime stories focused just on your little one in addition to a long list of stories ranging in length and relaxation level. You can also listen to noises of the city, meditation chants, or play a soft and gentle lullaby for your child’s afternoon nap time.
Sleepiest Sleep Sounds Stories also features an alarm and a sleep tracking option to monitor your own sleep improvement.
Download: Sleepiest Sleep Sounds Stories (Free trial, subscription available)
8. Night Light - Relax Sleep
As children, we often fear what might be lurking in the darkness beneath the bed or inside the closet. Is there any better feeling in the world than when plugging in that soft and glowing night light?
We’ve moved far past the simple plug-and-go nightlights and now there is an app that you can use to help your child fall asleep comfortably. This app is extremely basic but provides an excellent night light function. The screen itself operates as the night light and the color itself can be adjusted to suit the room.
There is a timer option available. The app also offers lullabies and calming music to help soothe yourself or your baby.
Download: Night Light - Relax Sleep (Free, in-app purchases)
Better Sleeping and More Freetime
One of the most difficult aspects of putting a child to bed can be the simple lack of personal time that it leaves you before your bedtime routine. Using some of these apps, you should be able to help set a more structured bedtime routine for your child which will result in a better nighttime experience for everyone in the home.
Once you’ve regained your evening freedom, you might want to take a look at some other apps to find other ways to improve your relationships with your loved ones.
