Holly’s Top 3 Tips for Getting Your Child to Sleep

Sleep is by far the #1 complaint I hear from parents.

Short naps, frequent night-wakings, lack of self-soothing, taking hours to fall asleep. I’ve heard it all!

So I thought I’d briefly share with you my TOP 3 tips for helping your fussy or high need baby sleep better. These are things I’ve learned through working with many different sleep consultants, through my own experience, and most importantly, from hundreds or even thousands of parents.

Here are 3 small changes you can make today that may just get your little one sleeping (finally!).

1. Move bedtime earlier.

Trust me, I know this is a super-scary one! The fear is that if you move bedtime earlier, your child will wake up earlier in the morning.

But in fact, more often than not moving bedtime earlier (between 6-7:30pm) will result in longer nighttime sleep, and better quality sleep. If your baby is an early-riser, he or she may continue to wake up early, but then at least they’ve gotten some good quality sleep at the front-end of the night.

When changing their bedtime, it’s best to do it gradually over the course of a few nights.

2. Invest in blackout blinds.

I’ve seen this truly be a miracle cure for early-rising, and trouble falling asleep at nap time and at night (especially in the summer months).

Not only does a dark room signal ‘sleep time’ for your little one, it helps their bodies produce melatonin, making it easier for them to fall asleep.

3. Whatever you do, be consistent with it.

There are so many tips, techniques and strategies for getting your baby or toddler to sleep. Some will work, some won’t.

But you’ll be cheating yourself and your little one if you aren’t consistent with whatever you’re doing. These little guys are smart; I truly believe they can sense when mommy or daddy has made a decision and is serious about it!

If you’ve made a decision, do your best to stick with it…often the difference between failure and success is simply waiting it out one more night!

To your healthy sleep!

Holly

 

Image Courtesy of David Castillo Dominici