As a parent with a new baby, there is nothing quite like the feeling of rocking your child to sleep in your arms. However, you may not find the experience quite as rewarding as your baby turns into a toddler who refuses to go to sleep without your help. If your toddler still needs you to rock her to sleep at bedtime, or worse, during the middle of the night if she wakes up, don't despair. With perseverance and patience, you can help your toddler learn how to fall asleep on her own.
Step 1
Establish a consistent bedtime routine. This usually includes a bath, quiet play time, a story and some cuddling. According to a study published in the journal "Sleep," infants and toddlers with a consistent bedtime routine fell asleep faster and slept better than those that did not have a routine.
Step 2
Change your child's sleep association. Right now, because you rock him to sleep, your child associates falling asleep with you. You will need to start putting your child to bed while he is sleepy but not yet asleep, so he starts associating being in his crib with falling asleep.
Step 3
Be prepared for some---and possibly lots of---crying. Learn about different methods of handling your child's crying ahead of time. Some parenting experts, like Dr. Benjamin Spock, recommend letting your child "cry it out," while others recommend a gentler approach. What's most important is that you pick the method that you think works best for you and your family and then stick with it.
Step 4
Set and enforce limits. Toddlers are notorious for stalling at bedtime, whether it's a request for one more hug, a drink of water or one more story. As the parent, you need to be firm and make it clear that you are the one who decides when it's bedtime. If you give in to these stall tactics, you'll just encourage the behavior.
Step 5
Be consistent. If you are not consistent in your approach, you will confuse your child and make the process more difficult. Of course, you may need to be flexible if your child is sick or in pain from teething.
Tips and Warnings
- The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends that you set aside 10 to 30 minutes to get your child ready to go to sleep each night, so make sure you allow enough time for your child's bedtime routine. If your child continues to have problems with falling asleep or staying asleep, speak to her doctor or a sleep specialist to rule out a physical problem and to get additional advice.
