Sleep issues

Sleep issues

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By the time a child is 12-18 months most parents are craving a normal sleep routine. If you have not established a routine with your infant, now is the time to start!

  • Establish a night time routine. Ideally, as a family, you will turn off the television, put the phones on silent and dim the computer screens during the hour or so it takes to get your toddler from bath to bed to sleep.  A toddler’s routine might involve: dinner, a last stretch of running around, bath, jammies, read-aloud time in the toddler’s room followed up by a little song, a good night kiss and sleep.  Make this routine part of your lives and avoid disruption when you can. Toddlers thrive on predictable routines.  However, there can be roadblocks.

Older siblings can make it difficult to get a toddler to settle down. Put older siblings in charge of certain aspects of the bedtime routine (Even if they are young, they can be in charge while you supervise.) Making siblings part of the night’s routine gets them involved and keeps them from hindering the routine. Also, it will boost the older child’s sense of being part of the “grown up” team.

If you and your partner do not have routine schedules, try to ensure that your toddler’s schedule does remain routine even if you must rely on other caregivers. This is difficult, especially if your time with your child is limited by your schedule. However, the long-term dividends are worth it.

  • When the Routine is Not Enough.  Once out of a crib, some toddlers refuse to yield to a basic sleep routine. If you want/need your child to hit the hay at a regular time, these tactics might help.
  • Anticipate!!! If your child is constantly coming out to ask for water, to tell you something “special” or just to wander about the house, it’s time to take action. If you know he is going to do one or all of the above, have the water ready – take a moment before his goodnight kiss to ask if he has anything else to tell you and remind him as you tuck him in that he is to be in that bed until morning.
  • If/When those tactics are not enough, get a book and prop yourself in the door frame after you kiss your toddler goodnight. Do not engage him. Do not look at him. Simply sit there and read – or just sit there.  If you do this consistently for even just a few days, you’ll see a change.
  • Classic Books for Toddlers – Reading aloud together each night is a calming routine. Even the youngest children love hearing the sound of your voice and the rhythms of well written books. Before you know it, your child will have favorites he demands to hear and he will delight in trips to the library and/or bookstore to find new favorites.