How to solve your toddler’s sleep issues
By Roberta Cannon, RN
Possibly one of the biggest challenges parents may face with toddlers is getting them to go to sleep at bedtime and/or getting them to sleep through the night.
“Toddlers have one goal when they habitually wake up at night and that is to get your attention,” said Jacqueline Sloan, MD, a Cape Cod Healthcare pediatrician with Seaside Pediatrics in West Yarmouth and in Orleans at the Orleans Medical Building. “Once you go in to comfort them or allow them to come into your bed, then they have achieved their goal.”
Teaching children healthy sleeping habits begins when they are newborns, beginning at one to two weeks of age, said Dr. Sloan.
“When it comes to transitioning your newborn into sleep, first make sure they are fed, burped and have a clean diaper, and swaddle them if needed,” said Dr. Sloan. “Lay them down awake and do your best to allow them to fall asleep on their own. If they can learn to do this as a newborn, they will carry this skill with them the rest of their life.”
Dr. Sloan recommends a book entitled On Becoming Baby Wise, a good starter book about getting babies into a healthy sleeping pattern.
“I used this book for all three of my children,” said Dr. Sloan. “I breastfed all three exclusively and they all slept through the night for eight hours by the time they were three months old.”
The hard part is babies cry and parents understandably want to pick them up and soothe them, she said.
She suggests the following tips to measure your newborn’s cry.
Toddler Sleep Issues
Parents who have toddlers with sleep issues often ask the following questions:
How do I get my toddler to fall asleep on their own at bedtime?
How do you get them to stay in bed at night, especially when they can escape their bedroom?
What do you do when you wake up in the middle of the night to find them crawling into your bed?
Dr. Sloan first recommends the following to get your toddler to sleep on their own:
Staying in Their Room
If your toddler has expanded their boundaries by calling out to you in the middle of the night and you have responded by going to their room to check on them, or they’ve escaped their room at night wandering into your bed, the solutions become more of a challenge.
Dr. Sloan acknowledges that these situations are hard but offers the following steps for parents to try:
“I know that parents look at me when I am explaining these things because it all sounds too much,” said Dr. Sloan. “I try to reassure parents that if you are asking for change, there is no easy way to do it and not giving in is extremely hard.”
View Physician Profile
Originally published on Cape Cod Health News, June 11, 2024
“Toddlers have one goal when they habitually wake up at night and that is to get your attention,” said Jacqueline Sloan, MD, a Cape Cod Healthcare pediatrician with Seaside Pediatrics in West Yarmouth and in Orleans at the Orleans Medical Building. “Once you go in to comfort them or allow them to come into your bed, then they have achieved their goal.”
Teaching children healthy sleeping habits begins when they are newborns, beginning at one to two weeks of age, said Dr. Sloan.
“When it comes to transitioning your newborn into sleep, first make sure they are fed, burped and have a clean diaper, and swaddle them if needed,” said Dr. Sloan. “Lay them down awake and do your best to allow them to fall asleep on their own. If they can learn to do this as a newborn, they will carry this skill with them the rest of their life.”
Dr. Sloan recommends a book entitled On Becoming Baby Wise, a good starter book about getting babies into a healthy sleeping pattern.
“I used this book for all three of my children,” said Dr. Sloan. “I breastfed all three exclusively and they all slept through the night for eight hours by the time they were three months old.”
The hard part is babies cry and parents understandably want to pick them up and soothe them, she said.
She suggests the following tips to measure your newborn’s cry.
- I tell parents to measure their cry using a scale of one to 10. If their scale of crying is six or higher, then pick them up and comfort them or try a pacifier.
- If it is four or lower, it's fussiness; they cry then stop and cry then stop again, that is a self-soothing cry. Babies should be left alone when they are doing this type of crying, even as newborns.
Toddler Sleep Issues
Parents who have toddlers with sleep issues often ask the following questions:
How do I get my toddler to fall asleep on their own at bedtime?
How do you get them to stay in bed at night, especially when they can escape their bedroom?
What do you do when you wake up in the middle of the night to find them crawling into your bed?
Dr. Sloan first recommends the following to get your toddler to sleep on their own:
- The best way to start is to develop and follow the same routine every single night.
- They should eat dinner around the same time every night.
- Whether it’s a bath, a bedtime story or brushing their teeth, make sure this all happens right before bed every night.
- I don’t recommend a bottle before bed, but if your toddler has one, use water instead of milk.
- No sugary food or drinks after 2 pm. Any sugar past this time will affect their ability to fall asleep.
- When your toddler starts pushing the boundaries, stick with your routine and don’t give in.
Staying in Their Room
If your toddler has expanded their boundaries by calling out to you in the middle of the night and you have responded by going to their room to check on them, or they’ve escaped their room at night wandering into your bed, the solutions become more of a challenge.
Dr. Sloan acknowledges that these situations are hard but offers the following steps for parents to try:
- Talk with your toddler, if they are two or older, and explain that they need to stay in their own crib or bed. For example, tell them you are going to read them a bedtime story and say goodnight then close their door. Tell them if they stay in their bed all night, you will have a surprise for them in the morning. It's important to let them know what is happening.
- Celebrate when they do stay in their bed with a small toy, a favorite treat or an activity.
- Do not give in to the temptation to check on them if they call you after going to bed. Just reassure them verbally from another room.
- Double gate the door to their room. Place one gate on top of another so they can’t climb out of their room.
- If you find they have fallen asleep on the floor next to the gate, that is okay.
- It’s okay if a toddler cries and you let them cry. The first night, they may cry for two hours, the next night it will be 45 minutes, the third night, maybe two minutes and the fourth night, they’ll sleep.
- If your toddler is sick, bring in a mattress or cot and sleep in their room. If you bring them into your bed, they will still sleep with you when they are well.
- The same goes with bed-sharing. If you allow them in your bed once, you’ve lost all control of them staying in their own bed.
- Try these steps beginning on a Friday night, if you don’t have to work on the weekend.
“I know that parents look at me when I am explaining these things because it all sounds too much,” said Dr. Sloan. “I try to reassure parents that if you are asking for change, there is no easy way to do it and not giving in is extremely hard.”
View Physician Profile
Originally published on Cape Cod Health News, June 11, 2024