Quality sleep at the right time to a sufficient extent is as necessary for humans as water and food. It is essential for children because it influences their physical and mental development. That is why a child spends about 39-40% of his or her childhood in sleeping. “How can my child sleep through the night?” is the biggest concern of every parent. No matter the age of your child, every parent needs some tips and suggestions to help their child sleep through the night. The most important thing to understand is that a kid changes their sleeping habits very frequently during the initial years of their life. So, every age group requires a different technique to get sound sleep.
Newborn learns “how to sleep”
Newborns typically are asleep more hours in the day compared to hours they are awake. A newborn’s sleep duration may vary between child but can be between 8 to 18 hours a day. They require frequent sleeps throughout the day and their sleeping period may last for a few minutes to some hours. Up until the child is 3 months old is really hectic for mothers as their child tries to learn and adopt sleeping habits so they can sleep throughout the night. The effective suggestions for parents of a newborn are:
Tips for Parents
- Notice your child’s sleeping patterns and try to know when your child is sleepy.
- Discourage their daytime sleep by exposing them to noise, outdoors, lights, and play with them.
- Play soft music while your child is sleeping.
- Provide a suitable environment for them when you want them to sleep by maintaining proper room temperature, noise control, and dim lights that help your child get to sleep.
Sleep in infants
For infants sleeping time reduces to 12-14 hours in a day and night. In the age of 4 to 12 months, the child shows two types of sleeping behaviours:
Signaler: infant who needs parental support to sleep at bed-time and during sleep interruption.
Self-soothers: who easily sleep independently and also go back to sleep without any assistance when they get up at night.
Tips for Parents
- Try to maintain a happy and scheduled bed time routine
- Regulate their nap timings during the day
- Encourage them to sleep independently
Toddlers
Toddlers mostly face sleep problems due to hyper-social, motor, and cognitive abilities. Reluctant when going to bed, night fears and nightmares, anxiety getting the separate room, and imaginative abilities can be the root causes of less sleep.
Tips for Parents
- Maintain a proper bed time routine with a peaceful, dark, and cozy environment.
- The environment should be the same as for newborns and endorse the use of regular sleeping aids (blanket, stuff toy, and pillows).
- Have a warm bath before bedtime.
Preschoolers
Preschoolers also deal with the same issues of nightmares and night fears, but sometimes they can also suffer from sleep walking and sleep talking.
Tips for Parents
- Regulate their sleep schedule with a joyful and relaxing bed-time routine.
- At this age, a bed time story helps as a sleeping aid.
- A sleeping room must be TV and device free, cool, dark, and quiet.
School-aged children
It’s time to show your patience at peak. Children aged 6-13 become more used to watching TV, playing video games, using mobile and computer. All these reasons cause less sleep, anxiety, nightmares, and bed-time resistance. They try to become more independent and wish to set their routines according to their desires.
Tips for Parents
- This is the time to explain the importance of proper sleep and scheduling of sleep time to your child.
- Keep all devices out of your child’s bedroom.
- Avoid caffeine and make your child’s room conductive to sleep.
- Allow them a set amount of time to read their book and then go to sleep.