One of the easiest things you can do to help get your child sleeping through the night is to create a “sleep sanctuary”. Essentially, this is creating an environment for your child that is very calming & comfortable. When you bring your child into this room, you want them to immediately understand that this is where sleep happens, easily and naturally. The following tips will work for babies, toddlers, or pre-schoolers and will make your child’s nightly journey into sleep easier and much more relaxing for both of you!Step 1: Keep it simple.
This means we don’t want a “carnival atmosphere” in your child’s room. When it comes to children’s rooms less is more.The reason is simply that all the extra “stuff” like mobiles or lots of stuffed toys can be distracting overstimulating for a child. And the last thing you want to deal with at bedtime is an overstimulated child!
So my advice here is to declutter your child’s room. Or, at the very least, declutter the cot by removing any: mobiles, extra blankets, extra stuffed toys, pillows or cushions.When it comes to your baby’s cot or child’s bed, remember that “Bare is Best.” Not only does this create a much more calming sleep space, it’s actually much safer, too!
Step 2: Keep it dark.
Babies aren’t afraid of the dark. In fact, most babies actually prefer a darker sleep environment. Plus, one of the biggest reasons a baby wakes up too early is simply because they are SO sensitive to even the slightest changes in light levels. In other words, when the morning sky starts to lighten, it can be enough to wake your baby! This is where “blackout blinds” are very conducive to sleep.
Step 3: Keep It Quiet… But Not Too Quiet
I like to tell parents that a baby’s room can never be too dark… but it can be too quiet! Sure, you can tiptoe around the house and watch TV with the volume at a whisper, but there’s always the chance that somebody’s going to ring the doorbell, call your phone, or drop a pan it the kitchen!
With that in mind, I recommend two things: Get your child used to a little bit of “background noise” (like conversation, TV, housework,etc.) from a young age so that they’ll be able to sleep through the part of your life that happens after they go to bed and try out a white noise machine. A white noise machine does a great job of “masking” other sounds.
Step 4: Keep it cool
Most expert recommend keeping your baby’s room somewhere between 20 – 22 celsius.
In order to keep your baby warm, but not too warm, my recommendation is to use asleep sack. There are a lot of different kinds available, but my personal favourite is the Love To Dream ones.
Step 5: Keep it calm
Starting about an hour before bedtime, your child’s bedroom should become an oasis of calm. During the rest of the day, it’s fine to have all kinds of fun in your child’s room. But for the hour before you put your child down for the night, everything that happens in their bedroom should be quiet and soothing. This accomplishes TWO very important bedtime goals: It makes sure you are not getting your child excited /overstimulated right before bed. It helps you “set the tone” for the night. By not engaging in “active play” in the hour before bedtime, your child will understand that fun time is over for the day, and won’t be tempted to try and start playing games with you after you’ve put them to bed for the night. I fully encourage cuddles, singing, laughter, storytelling, and so on. Just remember to keep it calm!
Creating a “sleep sanctuary” for your child is a great way to set the stage for a healthy night’s sleep, but if you’re the parent of a baby or toddler who isn’t sleeping through the night, chances are that there’s a little more work to be done! If your baby is waking during the night (and needing your help to get back to sleep), you may need to support your child to build the skills they need to fall asleep independently… without your help! Then, your little one can easily use these skills to put themselves back to sleep when they wake during the night.
If you need help with this part then please book in a 15 minute call with me.
