Sep 10 2007
Resources for Getting Your Toddler To Sleep
As I’ve mentioned in earlier posts, I’ve been doing some research trying to find an answer, the answer, any answer at all, to break the seemingly new habit my son has of crying (um, screaming) when he’s in his crib. In looking online I found several message boards where parents have posted questions similar to mine in hopes of getting their child to sleep in his bed or crib.
We finally broke the bad sleep cycle with our son, after about three days of sticking to our routine. That, and I bought a musical, light box for his crib which he fell in love with. We opened it together as we were getting ready to go to bed and he was excited about a new toy. I told him he couldn’t use it until he went to bed. After hooking it up to his crib, we did our bedtime routine (brush teeth, read book, etc.) and then I put him in his crib and taught him how to turn on the lights and music by pushing the buttons. I said goodnight and left the room. He played with it the new toy for at least 45 minutes the first night, but he never cried. Finally, he fell asleep and we haven’t had any more sleep problems.
If you have a good sleeper, thank your stars! If you are in need of help, try some of the resources listed below.
Resources for Getting Your Toddler to Sleep:
- Baby Center Message Board:
My toddler suddenly refuses to fall asleep on her own. - Help My Baby Sleep:
Help my baby sleep and us keep our sanity. - Yahoo Answers:
Please Help, my 18 month old won’t sleep in crib. - A common recommendation I found was to buy the book, “Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Baby.” I tried to get it from my local library, but it was already checked out, no doubt by a desperate parent. I opted for a book on the shelf, “Good Night, Sleep Tight.” All of the advice, from “the Sleep Lady,” is broken down by age of your child. I found it to be helpful in getting our son back on schedule.
- An important element in your quest is to know how much sleep your child needs for his age. Many books on child sleeping will tell you, but I like the chart on BabyCenter.com — it graphically displays how much sleep kids need.
UPDATE: Read the full resource list in my sleep archive page.
While you’re trying all of the solutions suggested above, don’t forget to make sure you get some rest yourself. Learning how to powernap properly SAVED MY LIFE when my son wouldn’t sleep! Here are some blog entries I wrote about it:
http://www.solutionsforbusymoms.com/display/ShowJournal?moduleId=443136&categoryId=78613
love this. although, i’m still working on getting my infant to sleep. it’s quite a challenge.. the hubby bought baby a little light up projector that projects different pictures on the wall and plays nature sounds, classical songs, and lullabies and she loves it.
looks like we are on the same page with that.