CONTACT US
Help your child wind down to a successful night's sleep with advice from child sleep expert Mandy Gurney
A child is considered to be sleeping through the night when they sleep at least six hours in a row.
During that time they will naturally wake up a number of times as part of their normal sleep cycle, however, good sleepers know how to fall back asleep without help.
The pain and anguish caused by interrupted sleep can upset the family balance and cause real distress. But a good night's sleep is not as impossible as you may think – with a few simple changes could find that your child is sleeping through the night much sooner than you think.
Establish a good bedtime routine
The most important step you can take to solve childhood sleep problems is to establish a consistent bedtime routine that's calming and gives the right cues for sleep. In many cases a child's pre-existing sleep complaint can be eliminated by the introduction of a sleep routine.
Treat the hour before bed as a 'wind down time'. Turn off the television and other distractions and engage your child in calm and relaxing play. Why not read a book together or do a puzzle? This is a wonderful time to bond with your child and help them feel safe and secure before bed.
And the buzz word for this time in the evening is CALM – it's vital you don't do anything to excite your child – often parents will be doing really well at keeping the last hour in the evening soothing when their partner comes home from work and all hell breaks loose! It's great that your partner wants to engage with your child and they should join in with this bedtime routine but they mustn't excite them!
Bath time
Twenty minutes before bedtime give them a quick warm bath. You've done so well up to this point of not exciting your child so don't spoil it now by splashing around! The bath really shouldn't last longer than five minutes and give your child your full attention during this time. Keep eye contact with them and help them feel soothed and relaxed.
Then when you take them out of the bath their body temperature will naturally drop slightly causing them to produce the sleep hormone melatonin.
Your child will almost be ready to drop off now – so once they are out of the bath take them straight to the room they are going to sleep in. The light in this room should already be dimmed and if possible the temperature should be around 18 degrees.
By doing this you are mimicking nature's cues for sleep – in the evening it gets cooler and darker, and in response the body will produce hormones that help you fall asleep. But with central heating and electric lights we lose these signals and can therefore find it harder to feel sleepy.
Dim the lights
By dimming the lights in the bedroom, helping the body temperature drop by having a warm bath and keeping the bedroom cool, your child will naturally feel ready for bed.
Finally your child must get straight into their pyjamas so they fully understand it's time to sleep. In this last 10 minutes you could read them a story or sing them a song but try and leave the room before your child has fallen asleep so they don't rely on you to drop off.
Likewise try and avoid any sleep props that your child won't be able to accesses for themselves in the night. For example, if they rely on a night light that you later turn off, or music that can't run all night, their prop won't be there when they wake and they will find it difficult to settle on their own.
And don't forget, no child is too old or too young to have a sleep routine. With babies it's a wonderful time to bond and help them feel drowsy, toddlers react really well to the structure a bedtime routine provides and in teenagers it offers them the perfect opportunity to help get a solid night's sleep.
Make your child's bedroom sleep ready
Black out blinds for your child's nursery are a great investment – especially now the days are getting longer. They prevent your child being disturbed by the sun rising, and will especially help if your child is a real early morning waker. Sunlight suppresses the sleep hormone melatonin and helps us wake up, so the longer you can keep the nursery in darkness, the longer your child should be able to sleep.
Don't worry too much about noise when your newborn baby is in bed. Because of their time in the womb they find everyday sounds familiar and reassuring, it's loud sudden sounds that they find alarming. In fact some babies find white noise such as vacuuming and the washing machine so relaxing that it can help them drop off to sleep.
And after fifteen minutes a child of any age should be in deep sleep, so again, household sounds shouldn't wake them. If your child isn't falling asleep within fifteen minutes of going to bed you could have a problem. Look to see if they are having a nap too late in the afternoon, or maybe their pre-sleep routine isn't relaxing enough and they are finding it difficult to shut down.
Getting tough
Finally if your child is coming into your bed during the night and disturbing your sleep it's time to get tough with them. It's OK to acknowledge that as adults you need some space to yourself and that your child needs to learn to sleep in their own bed.
So the next time they wonder into your room put them straight back to bed without engaging in conversation. Chatting and playing with them makes it worth their while getting out of bed and they'll soon learn to stay in their own bed if getting up doesn't have any benefits.
It may take a few nights of repeating this treatment before they get the message - and once you've started, stick with it. If they manage to wiggle their way in to your bed, even once or twice a week, they're bound to keep trying.
Night feeds
Likewise if your baby is waking for a night feed but you know they don't need it, only feed them water instead of milk. If they really are waking out of habit they'll soon realise that it's not worth waking up for nothing more than a little water and they'll soon start to sleep through.
Of course all sleep routines and the ability to sleep through the night will change if your child is ill or unwell. So never do anything you don't feel comfortable with, and never ignore a child's shrill persistent cry. If you are ever unsure, you should always consult a doctor.
