ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) — We all need sleep, but young children need more. Studies show that children under the age of three should get at least nine hours of sleep per night. Lack of sleep in your child can have negative effects on their performance in school, extracurricular activities and mood, not to mention it also affects your sleep. The problem is getting your child to bed and getting them to stay there. Here are some tips to help.
About 20 percent of one to three year olds wake up in the middle of the night and have a tough time getting back to sleep. One thing that can help is the golden rule for toddler bedtime.
“So the golden rule is drowsy but awake.” Katie Kovaleski, founder of Anytime Sleep Consulting told Ivanhoe.
Putting a child to bed tired, but awake can allow them to fall sleep on their own, which means they can easily put themselves back to sleep when they wake up during the night.
Also introducing a security toy or blanket makes a child feel safe when you are not present. So have the object as part of the bedtime routine, even when they’re in the hospital.
And establish a bedtime routine that is consistent and includes calm activities, such as a bath or a bedtime story.
Kovaleski said, “So the same activities in the same order, each day and each night are really helpful in getting your child to sleep, in cueing them and cueing their bodies that it’s time to relax and go to bed.”
And did you know the more tired your child is, the more likely they will wake up during the night? Be sure your child is napping during the day and has an early bed time.
A consistent bedroom environment also helps with keeping your child asleep. Make sure things like lighting or noise are the same throughout the night.
Contributors to this news report include: Milvionne Chery, Producer; Roque Correa, Videographer and Editor; Gabriella Battistiol, News Assistant.
