As a parent of a young child, one of the hardest things to do is get your child to sleep soundly through the night. Many parents spend the first few years of their child's life waking periodically during the night to their child crying and unable to sleep. This can cause stress on the parents and create bad sleeping habits for the child. There are multiple steps that parents can take to help their child sleep through the night.
STEP 1:
Let your child take naps. Young children, particularly those under 2, need at least two naps throughout the day. This may sound like it could cause your child to wake at night, but that is not the truth. Having your child on a consistent nap routine during the day will allow them to sleep easier at night. It is when you change their nap routine, or all together take a nap away, that they begin to wake during the night.
STEP 2:
Understand your child's sleep behavior. Understanding how your child sleeps best is a very important aspect to keeping him or her from periodically waking during the night. By this I mean understand when he or she begins to become ready for bed. This does not mean you allow your child to stay up until he or she is tired, but instead of going to bed at 7p.m. you put your child to bed at 7:30p.m.
STEP 3:
Create a sleep routine. This is very important for your child. This includes that nap routine that is detailed above. Make sure that you do not change the time when your child goes to bed or wakes in the morning. Try to keep it as constant as possible, and get them used to certain times of the day or night.
STEP 4:
Block out the noise and light. One thing that may be keeping your child up during the night is simply too much light or noise. If there is a street light outside of your house that shines into his or her room, this may be waking them during the night. Try to get the blinds as closed as possible. As for noise, this can go both ways with either too much or too little noise. If it is too quiet for your child then set up a white noise system or soft radio that soothes them during the night.All of these steps are great tips to help your child create a sound sleep routine and more importantly, help get you some sleep during the night as well.
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