Tips for Better Sleep for your Child
Here are some sleep tips that have worked for moms:
- The earlier to bed, the better they sleep. Your child’s sleep disruption might be helped by an earlier bed time.
- Work on nighttime sleep first, and then the nap times.
- The same routine, whether for nap or night time. A mother notes: “We were using a sleep sack for my son at night, but not during the day. I put a sleep sack on him during the day and voila, he started napping.” Sure you can’t go so far as to do a bath at night and day, but as much as you can. Also, the room should be as dark, quiet and nicely temperatured as you can possibly make it (not too hot or cold)
- Consistency is also key when sleep training and pretty much in ever facet of child rearing. Establishing a nighttime ritual and always doing the same thing works. I would rock my child to sleep or a semi conscious state and put him to bed in his crib. If he would wake up, I NEVER let him cry it out. I would always go in there, pick him up, and repeat the process. I would do it 15x if that’s what it took to make him feel comfortable and that his needs were met so that he could go peacefully to sleep. No matter how many times he woke up, I never fed him, unless of course it was close to his normal wake up time. After a certain age, (which I think is 4 months but I’m not 100% certain), they are capable of sleeping through the night without waking for food. I think its more of a comfort to eat that it is a need. So I suggest: CLAP: Consistency, Love, Affection and Patience.
- Take to your child about the changes you’ll be making. Even at that young of an age, they understand some of what you’re saying. If you tell him you’re trying something different and (for instance) when he/she screams at night, you’ll rock with him, but then put him in his own crib, it at least won’t be as much of a shock to him/her.
- Use the 3,6,9 rule at night. At first, go in after three minutes of crying. Then wait 6 minutes before going in, then 9. Eventually, he’ll understand that he’s not going into your bed and you don’t have to worry if you’re not into the cry it out method.
- It can be hard to wean your child off the bottle at night, try switching to water. Once your child realizes she isn’t going to get a middle of the night meal (or a meal as often), it won’t be worth waking up as often.
- Stick with it, consistency counts. Nothing happens in a single day or night. It could take three nights, it could take two weeks. Really, you’re doing yourself a favor in the long run.
- If you give up after three days, give yourself a break, then try again in another week or two. Keep at it.
- Avoid sending your child mixed signals. You’re doing her a favor by setting some boundaries and telling her what works for you. It will work for her.
- Don’t try any of this during a transition. If your child is sick or you’ve moved or gone on vacation, don’t do anything, you’re just going to make yourself and him crazy.
- Make a plan for the night. Don’t just go into it wondering what will happen. If you have a plan, (like that you won’t take him into bed and then you’ll do 3,6,9 and then if that doesn’t work, your husband will then go in after 12 minutes and take over for the next half hour, etc.) then you won’t be winging it while half asleep and only semi-conscious.
- Set a certain number of days (at least) that you’re going to try something. Don’t do it one night and not the next and then try again the third night. My son, now 2, stopped napping at home when I started him at preschool. He was too wired. So I decided I would try napping him at school with the other kids. After two days of him fighting the nap at school, my husband thought we should try napping him at home again. It was obvious to me that the back and forth would be worse than holding out for at least a week and then making a decision about trying at home again. In reality, I decided 2 weeks would be fair in seeing if he would nap at school. If it didn’t work, I would have known I would have really tried it and I should try something else. By day #4, he was fast asleep at school and has been falling asleep there in the afternoon ever since. If I’d brought him home after two days I would have just made a mess of the whole thing.
- If you have daycare, sit down with your nanny or daycare provider and come up with a plan for how you’re going to try and nap him at home or at the daycare. He’s young enough that he can change, though it will take time. But your daycare provider has to be on board and you have to explain that she can’t change the routine without talking to you first so that everyone’s on the same page. Again, explain to your son what’s going to happen. Even if he doesn’t nap while he’s in his crib, he’s getting down time and if he misses some sleep in the transition, he can make it up.
- Find a blanket or sleep lovey thing that he holds when he nurse and sleeps with. That way, when he wakes up and feels his blanket thing he’ll know things are cool: she equated it to falling asleep eating in the kitchen and then waking up in bed and going WTF – but if you have your transitional blanket lovey item it helps them calm down and hopefully go back to sleep.
- Read about sleep training from Jay Gordon: http://drjaygordon.com/attachment/sleeppattern.html
