How to get your children to sleep at night
Guest Post
If I had the chance to be 5 again, with the endless joy experienced in discovering new things, the constant play time and more importantly, nap time, I would snap it up in an instant. What I would give to be allowed to take regular naps throughout the day. Babies spend up to three times as much time sleeping as adults do, and toddlers are recommended to have 11 hours sleep at night, and naps up to 2 hours during the day. I’m sure most people would give their right arm to be able to sleep for half the day! Unfortunately, the world would be a much less productive place if that was allowed.
Toddlers do not seem to realise just how great naps are. In a way this baffles me, whilst at the same time I can remember what it was like being little and wanting to stay up late to join in with the “grown-ups” so that you don’t miss out on any of the fun they’re having. There was always just “one more episode of My Little Pony, I’ll never be bad ever again, I promise!” Everything was so new and exciting that it was just so hard to leave it behind for something as boring as sleep, and when you’re that age you just don’t realise how important it is for your growth and development.
If your child isn’t sleeping through the night, or refuses to go to bed on time, you may think that they’re not tired and don’t need as much sleep, but you really must remember how important sleep is at that age.
REM sleep (rapid eye movement) is the stage of sleep where you dream, and babies spend up to 8 hours a night in REM sleep, which shows just how important this stage of sleep is to development.
About 25% of children under 5 have some sort of sleep problem and unfortunately there is no one way to get your child to sleep. Any parent knows that what works for others doesn’t necessarily work for their child. One thing that’s incredibly important is to establish a routine, and stick to it. The routine should be about 30 minutes long and established as early as possible. Toddlers love being in control of any situation, they play around with the idea of power, and trying to gain it in all possible scenarios. Especially bed time. Although, a lot of children will struggle to get to sleep until late at night and then be grouchy, tearful and temperamental during the next day. One trick around this is to let your child fall asleep naturally, no matter what time that may be, and each day gradually move the bedtime routine 15 minutes earlier until you have reached the desired bedtime. This should reset their body’s natural clock and allow them to get enough sleep and feel more refreshed.
Remember that your child may genuinely be scared of the monsters in the closet, or the goblins under the bed. Don’t ever laugh these fears off, as to your child they are serious things to be concerned about. Indulge them, check under the bed and the cupboards all the while reassuring them that there’s nothing there. Let them know they’re being taken seriously and you give them some control over the routine. If they’re needy for your attention then play on that. Tuck them in and tell them you’ll be back in ten minutes. Come back in ten and if they’re still in bed then shower them with praise for staying in bed. Do this a few times, leave and come back. Build up their trust that you aren’t going anywhere and you’ll always come back. Cut down the amount of times you offer this “leaving and coming back” throughout the course of a few weeks, and eventually they should be weaned off needing your attention throughout the night so much.
The key is, as hard as it may seem, to stay patient and keep trying different tactics until you find something that works. This does not mean it will work every time, so keep that in mind.
Have patience and try and work with your child to discover the underlying causes of the sleep problems.
Yasmin is a mum of two and appreciates the benefit of getting a good night’s sleep. When she’s not trying to trick her children into going to bed, she writes for Home Furniture Range, who sell a great selection of Oak beds so when you eventually get your little one’s to sleep you can retire to your room and rest in perfect comfort.
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