Child Can’t Sleep? Try These Tips For Establishing Good Sleep Patterns
Filed under Insomnia in children
Child Can’t Sleep? Try These Tips For Establishing Good Sleep Patterns
Sleep deprivation! No one ever told you having a child meant saying goodbye to a good nights sleep. Fear not here are some tips that worked for me that willl help you establish natural sleep patterns for your child. Most children don’t need chemicals to sleep just the best natural sleep aid which is you helping them to learn how to get to sleep themselves.
Newborns.
You have more experience of sleep than your new born so it is your job to train them into more sociable sleep patterns. I guess our rule was do whatever you need to do to get through the first 3 months and then start to work on the sleep patterns. However there are still a few things yo can do early on.
At this early stage the key is consistency. To begin with your baby’s stomach is really small (about the size of a walnut) so she can’t go long between feeds. Who can blame her for waking up and shouting for food. You can start at this early stage to demonstrate a difference betwdeeen day and night. During the day you talk to your baby as she feeds and interact with her during and after a feed.
At nightime make it "food with no frills," no bright lights, no chatter and no playing. Get used to putting your baby down to sleep after winding. As baby is able to take on more food they can go longer between feeds so keep showing them there is a difference between day and nightime. Hopefully baby can start to go for 5-6 hour stretches and then you might want to shift this to suit you for example if baby goes from 9pm to 2am you might prefer shifting it to 11-4 by waking her at 11 for a feed each night. Again consistency and a bit of patience are needed but most babies pick it up in a few days.
3-6 Months olds
Most babies have the potential to be able to develop regular sleep patterns now (unless there is an underlying health condition.) Establishing good sleep patterns now is a great boost for their physical and cognitive development.
It is best for everyone if your baby learns how to get themselves to sleep rather than fall asleep during feeding. Our first child liked to suck a finger to go to sleep, imagine sitting patiently beside the cot waiting for them to go to sleep and trying to gently pull your finger out without waking them. Little did we know we were fostering dependancy.
To encourage independance you should put your baby to bed drowsy but not aseep. This way they stand more chance of learning to sooth themselves to sleep.
Again consisitency of bedtime routine is important . Establish a regular enjoyable close -contact time for baby, a warm bath, reading a story or whatever works for you.
Children 4+ years
Once again maintain a settled and relaxing bedtime routine of bath, book and bed, and dim the lights just before bed. The last thing your child needs is stimulation from a TV or a computer game. Talk to your child about the importance of healthy sleep patterns and set clear limits on bedtime. It is Ok to break this habits now and then for special occasions but it might take a night or two to re-establish the pattern.
Playing with kids, not following through giving into whining or crying or allowing umpteen trips to the bathroom or to get a drink are no go areas.
Don’t be a jelly fish parent and help kids be clear that bed means bed by making sure you enforce your rules.
At times the pattern may be broken for a host of reasons like travel or illness or teething, but bring it back to your established routine as soon as you can and help your child develop healthy and natural sleep patterns and reduce the chance of sleep disorders later on.
Eleanor Hart
Teacher and Mum to two gorgeous children