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Toddler Sleep

This photo is licensed under cc by sa 2.0 by Mark and Allegra

Being a parent of a toddler brings great joy...and many sleepless nights! Do you constantly wonder whether you'll ever regain your past sleep-life? If so, you're not alone!

Since you are reading this page, I assume you are probably experiencing difficulties putting your toddler to bed, and are having routine bedtime battles with your toddler, right? You are probably on the lookout for information on sleep strategies to help get your toddler to sleep through the night, or even on going to bed in the first place!

In this section I hope to help you with some tips on how to be in control of your toddler's (and your own!) sleep-time schedule.

The subject of toddlers sleep (or lack of) is of primary concern for the majority of us parents.

This is because these days we have so much to do in so little time, especially when both parents are in full-time paid employment, it becomes extremely important that your toddler sleeps well at night.

When your toddler was a baby, she was in charge of the whole eating, peeing, pooing, and sleeping schedule. But of course, you knew what you were in for - having to wait on your newborn several times throughout the night.

Babies are meant to wake up every few hours for a breast or bottle feed in the early months, but after 12 months of age, there is no reason why she still needs to be in charge of your schedule and prevent you (and herself) from having an all-night snooze.

Are You Ready for a Challenge?

The primary concern that most parents have with their toddler's sleep is night-waking. Here are some bits and pieces to help you overcome those night-time bedtime battles.

To put it very simply, you have 2 options when dealing with night-waking: -

1) Don't do anything at all (that is, learn to live with it for a while); or
2) Learn and apply teach-to-sleep techniques

First off, I think you should decide whether your toddler's night-waking is really a problem or not. If you are in full-time employment, it's pretty obvious that it would be an issue for you.

You simply don't have the luxury (or choice, for that matter) of having a snooze while your toddler has her nap, in order to catch up on sleep that was missed the previous night.

If you find yourself constantly falling asleep on the job because your toddler has kept you up all night, I'm not sure whether your boss will be very sympathetic (unless you work for yourself, which of course is a very different story!)

If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It...

If you have the privilege of not having to face the rat race because your priorities lie at home, you are probably less likely to be among the 'living dead' (no offence to those sleep-deprived, physically and mentally exhausted parents - I know your pain), as you will have the chance to rest up while your tot is having her daytime nap (as opposed to those parents who are in full-time paid work).

In your case you might choose the option of (1) Not doing anything at all about the night-waking because you will not have to deal with the considerable emotional pain and crying (yours and your toddler's) often involved with teaching-to-sleep methods.

If you are not bothered at all by your toddler's routine and you are happy with what's happening, then I think you should ignore unwanted advice, especially if it involves you changing your routine and getting more distressed by the change than you were beforehand.

When You're Just Desperate for Some Sleep...

In my opinion, the controlled crying technique should be used as a last resort (if at all, as I'll explain later). If you turn into a sobbing wreck every time you hear your toddler cry, or if you can't bear to hear your little darling cry for more than 3 minutes straight, then this method is not for you.

I personally used the controlled crying method with my eldest daughter, initially at 8 months and again at 12 months when she fell ill and started night-waking again. She had to re-learn the whole method from scratch.

I must say it was extremely difficult to do - difficult in that it was heartbreaking to hear her cry and difficult to control myself from going into her room to comfort her. Mind you, the method did work and I lived to tell the tale.

HOWEVER - I did NOT use this method for my younger daughter due to the growing concern that the method can actually be harmful to your baby/toddler.

If you have concerns of your own, consult your health care provider before you commence any sort of teaching-to-sleep program.

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