How to Make your Toddler go to Sleep

Have trouble getting your little ones to sleep each night? My wife and I have two small children and both have not been easy to get to sleep. It's a little easier now, but when they were younger, we tried all sorts of things that I'd like to share with you.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Toddler

1. The most common advice that people (including experts) provide is to have a sleep routine. This may include a bath, reading a book, "sleepy songs," gently stroking similar to massaging, etc. We even know some families that have incorporated an imaginary "sleepy bicycle ride." This takes some discipline for the parents as well as the child. Some may argue this will work with all children, but I personally don't believe that. It really depends on each individual child and his/her personality and development level.

2. Somewhat similar to the bedtime routine is to create a sleepy environment. This means to slowly turn off all the lights in the house/apartment (one by one over a few minutes) while encouraging your child he/she should prepare for sleep. Also, reassure your child not be afraid of this environment if he/she is afraid of the dark. Do some fake yawns to illustrate what's coming. Along with this tactic, never use the child's bed or sleep area for playing during the day. He/she needs to eventually associate his/her bed with sleep time only (never with play).

3. Routines and the environment are the best and most recommended ways to get your toddler to sleep. One not recommended, but can still be used occasionally is to go for a short drive. A lot of children find the vibration and monotony of a drive to be very soothing. Some parents may find this is the only way to get their babies to go to sleep, and if they are desperate enough, will do this more than just a few times. The problem with this is that both babies and toddlers may be used to this (i.e., may see this as a routine). It depends on what the parents know about their children (how developed the child is). Our son had a very hard time going to sleep when he was 2, and no matter what routine we used, he never associated it with sleep. So, accidentally, we found out that he would easily fall asleep if we were driving with him at about 7 or 8pm at night. We did this off and on for a few months and he seemed to get sleepy at about that time each night even if we didn't go for a drive. So, it again depends on the development state of each child. I would not recommend this as a first option, but it's up to each parent (parents know their children best).

[AutumnLeavz]

on 5/28/2008 These are excellent tips!