Help Your Child Sleep Through the Night: 10 Tips for parents

Children only know what they’ve been taught. Needless to say, sleep is one of the most important factors in your child’s well being. Their growth and social development depends on it. As a young mother of four, I can proudly say that each of my children started sleeping at least 9hrs a night, from age 5 or 6 months, before that they woke to feed.

I had each of them in my bed, so I could easily breastfeed them throughout the night, until I transferred them to the crib at 5 or 6 months. They had one or two nights of fussing, soon realizing their new routine. My 2 year old and 9 month old go ‘willingly’ to bed at 7 pm, sleeping10-12 hours, and my 7 and 4 year old get lights out at 8 pm, sleeping 11-12 hours. Do I have your attention now?

My girlfriend complains to me that she can’t get her 9 month-old to sleep more than 3 hours at a time. I say she can have her little one sleeping most of the night if she really wants to. It won’t happen overnight, and each child’s needs are unique, but when you devise a plan and stick to it, eventually your little one will get some much needed zzz’s, and so will you. Here are 10 points to help you reach your goal.

• Start early– When it comes to sleeping patterns, the earlier the better. Let your child know that during the day it’s okay to be awake, but nighttime is for sleeping

• Routine – Set up a routine for your little one, so they know when it’s time to sleep. For me, my little ones know they get a snack, brush their teeth, have a story, and then lights out. Give it some time and stick to it. If you start changing things around regularly, it won’t work!

• Warning – For your older children, give them some warning that it’s time for bed. I generally let them know 10 minutes before bed, that way they can finish up whatever they are doing. If they feed rushed, you may wind up in some avoidable reluctance.

• Make it a positive thing – Whether you have to make a fun game of chasing them to the bathroom to brush their teeth, or pretend you’re a monster as they scurry into bed, MAKE IT FUN! If they’ve got a favorite doll or blanket they want to take to bed, let them get it, try and make bedtime as positive as you can.

• What if they aren’t really tired? – So what? For my kids, bedtime is bedtime. Kids can NEVER have enough sleep, at least in the early years. Teenagers are a different story. Sometimes my 7 year-old really isn’t tired when his 8 o’clock bedtime rolls around. We still do the same routine, and if he really can’t get to sleep, he can read or play cars IN BED, until he falls asleep. Nine times out of ten he’s asleep within 15 minutes. He feels good because he’s being independent, and I feel good because he’s IN BED!

• Give them ‘controlled’ choices – From a very young age, children strive for independence, I see this a lot in my 2 year-old. If you give them ‘controlled’ choices, things will run much smoother. By ‘controlled’, I mean give them 2 options where and it doesn’t matter to you which one they choose. Like when it’s time to brush their teeth, have 2 toothbrushes, and let them choose the one they’d like to use. Or let them decide which story you’re going to read. By doing this you really help bedtime to be a happy time, not a time for fighting.

• Create the mood – It’s important that you ‘wind down’ your children, as bedtime is approaching. This is not the time to be playing tag, wrestling, or running off to the park. Let them unwind by watching a moving, or colouring, something that is low-key. They will soon learn to recognize this as a cue, and know that bedtime is approaching.

• Expect exceptions – There will be times when your little ‘routine’ just won’t work. But allow that only when the conditions are out of your control. Like when your child is sick, or has a mandatory late night engagement, a movie or barbeque. Make these events an exception to the rule, or they’ll soon become the rule.

• Organize your schedule – By this I mean, as much as you can, make sure that everybody is home for bedtime. Don’t be throwing the kids in the van and running off to the market just before bedtime, or trying to cram supper in, when it’s time to read the kids their bedtime story. Again, I know there are times when things can’t be avoided, but make them few and far between.

• Stick to it – You need to stick to your routine and STAY FIRM. Don’t let your child whine his/her way into one more show, or ‘just a few more minutes’! Keep things short and sweet, from start to finish it takes me 15 minutes. My efforts have paid off, and bedtime is almost like an appointment, when you have to catch the bus, you make sure you do. Well it’s the same thing with bed.

Use these 10 points to help you children develop great sleeping habits. Your children grow and learn at tremendous rate, and sleep is really important in their development, and their attitude. Just think how good you feel after a great night sleep.
One other note, is just because you may be traveling, and not at your home, doesn’t mean you can’t keep the same routine. It won’t be the same, but at least try to keep the same time for lights out. Stick to it, your kids will thank you for it….sweet dreams!

TweetEmailPrint