Things You'll Need:
- Your child's own bed to sleep in
- Night light in hall near your child's room for safety
- Books to read in bedtime ritual
-
Step 1
Set an appropriate bedtime for your child that is reasonable and meets the developmental and physiological needs of your child. You do not want put your child to bed too early when she is not tired. You also do not want to put her to sleep when she is too tired and cranky.
-
Step 2
Let your child know the consequence of not enough sleep. Once you have determined her bedtime you need to establish an appropriate, healthy and natural punishment (see tips on consequences below) for not going to bed in a timely manner. Your child must recognize that without a full night’s sleep she will be tired and possibly cranky the next day.
-
Step 3
Address the length and need for naps. If your child refuses to go to sleep at night in the her own bed at the appropriate bed time it might be a sign that the child is not tired because of an earlier nap. If your child is still taking naps, you need to shorten the length of those naps or even discontinue naps entirely.
-
Step 4
Perform a short bedtime ritual. Once you have resolved the daytime nap situation get in the child’s bed and provide a very short (no more than 15 minutes) pre-bed ritual of bedtime stories and kisses.
-
Step 5
Do not talk to your child again until the morning. You need to pre-warn her that you will no longer talk with her or return to her room.
-
Step 6
Let the child settle herself to sleep. Leave the child in her own bedroom to comfort herself to sleep.
-
Step 7
Do not respond to any yelling or screaming. After you leave your child in bed alone in her room do not respond to any crying or yelling even if it persists. It takes about 3 days for this unacceptable behavior to be extinguished in most cases.
-
Step 8
Walk the child silently back to her room and bed if she comes to your room. If your child is old enough to climb out of bed and comes to your bed, you are to silently lead her back to her room with no harsh treatment.
-
Step 9
Be consistent with these steps until your child stays in her room and bed all night. Her behavior will improve in a short amount of time.
-
Step 10
Learn that as long as your child is safe in her own room she will develop a way to comfort herself to fall asleep alone. You need to learn that you are not responsible for comforting your child so that sleep is possible. If you get caught up in this trap your child loses perspective of what is necessary to go to sleep and then your child will take control of the night time activity in your home.
