I was checking Facebook the other day and saw my husband's cousin's status. It was an online cry for help from a new mom: how does she get her five-month-old to sleep better. Exhausted, sleep-deprived, frustrated with this bundle of joy that is just not getting into a good sleeping routine...it was a cry we all probably made at some point in our mommy lives.
Friends and mamas in her Facebook world all chimed in with advice, words of encouragement, and virtual hugs. Not one bit of advice was the same -- which makes sense to me. Kids are different, and no one way to get kids to sleep through the night or to take good naps will work for every child.
We can read all about how much sleep our kids need (little ones about 12 months old need 14-15 hours of sleep a day, which decreases to 12-14 hours at around age two, and then even less, to about 10-12 hours for the three- to six-year-old crowd). But how do we get them to do it? How do we ensure our little ones are getting important dreamland hours?
There is no right answer. The sleep habit-kid issue is one of those parenting hurdles we all deal with - maybe a few times - in our kiddos' lives. Like introducing solids and potty training, teaching our kids good sleep skills is one of the Biggies.
For the most part, my kiddo is a good sleeper. I am knocking wood and keeping my fingers crossed though, as we all know those kids can change things up. She's had her moments, phases when she would wake up at night and call us, but the going to bed part has been pretty successful. What did we do? We followed the plan we read in a few books, we talked with friends, and then we just tried to see what worked for her.
This week, we are tackling sleeping and kids: how to get them to fall asleep on their own, the lowdown on naps, and everything in between.
Let's kick it off: how is your child's bedtime routine? Do you have one? How did you get your kids to sleep through the night? What time is bedtime?
DS has always been a great sleeper. He was sleeping through the night, other than the occasional feeding, by 8 weeks. Now he is 7.5 and in bed by 8:30pm. He generally gets up around 6:30am.
DD has been tougher. She still gets up in the middle of the night on occasion and she is 4.5. She was closer to 18 months before she would consistently sleep through the night. She also goes to bed at 8:30pm and gets up between 7 and 7:30am.
DD has always been a good sleeper. even now at the age of 11 she never fights her 9pm bedtime =)
DS on the other hand started off a good sleeper and then around 4 months he got repeatedly sick which drove us to bringing him to our bed every night or holding him just so we could sleep too =( it was a bad habit that we could just never break. He's now 2.5 and still in our bed half the night so it's an ongoing battle right now that he's winning LOL
My daughter gets 20min to watch tv or read books with mommy before bed. Then she has 10min to brush her teeth, get a drink of water, and get her clothes out for the next day. Then she goes to bed. She is always asleep by 8:30
From the very start, we began by making nights in our house darker, quieter, and less active, and days brighter, noisier, and more exciting. That way, they learned the difference between day and night and didn't feel like they had to stay up at night to avoid missing out on any fun. Also, even as newborns, 8pm was bedtime. No, they didn't stay asleep for long at that point, but it was important for us to make a routine out of putting them to bed at 8pm. Nowadays, they can't stay awake much past 8pm out of habit, lol, which is pretty funny on those times when they're desperately trying to stay awake, like during New Year's Eve or sleepovers, lol.
Quoting nngmommy83:
DD has always been a good sleeper. even now at the age of 11 she never fights her 9pm bedtime =)
DS on the other hand started off a good sleeper and then around 4 months he got repeatedly sick which drove us to bringing him to our bed every night or holding him just so we could sleep too =( it was a bad habit that we could just never break. He's now 2.5 and still in our bed half the night so it's an ongoing battle right now that he's winning LOL
I have always heard this was a hard one to break. I think that is why we never let the kids in our bed on a regular basis, but when they are sick it is SO hard... Good luck on getting him back to his own bed soon. :-)
My kids have an excellent bedtime routine.
On non-activity days, they are in bed at 8. Tuesdays it's 8:30 due to scouts and Wednesdays around 9:30 due to Awana and our drive home. They adjust really well to it most weeks.
We try to read before bed, brush teeth, say prayers and off to sleep world they go. They've had the same routine since they were babies-which I think helped tremendously with them sleeping good and through the nights. They are now 6 and 8 :)
With my older kids getting involved in activities the routine is a bit harder to keep when we get home at night, but basically we do dinner, put on PJ's get together for family devotions, and read a bit out of a chapter book. I take the little ones up to bed and read them another small book and everyone is asleep for the night.
Monday Mantra: Saying Yes and Having Fun
- HeatherNYC
on Feb. 13, 2012 at 12:00 AM