If your toddler bedtime is a battle time then it’s time to make a change. Here’s our top tips to have an easier and happier bed time.

Your toddler is growing up and learning so much about the world. During the day he’s learning new skills, practising his new moves and has realised that he is quite an independent little person. This is great fun but it also tiring for both child and parent.

At your toddler’s bedtime everyone will be tired. An easy and happy bedtime with your toddler going to sleep and you having a break is just what you need!

To have a happy toddler bedtime your toddler needs to be ready to go to sleep. Make sure his day time naps are neither too long nor too late in the day. If he’s slept too much during the day he simply won’t be tired enough to go to sleep in the early evening. This means that you may need to re-jig his day so that you are not in the car or buggy in the late afternoon otherwise your toddler may have an involuntary “powernap”! Of course, sometimes this can’t be avoided, but if it can, then do avoid it as it will scupper his bedtime.

Assuming he is ready for sleep at bedtime, then have a calming and relaxing bedtime routine. This could be for example, suppertime, little play, teeth cleaned, bathtime, story time and a good night cuddle. Make sure you have enough time in the day time for cuddles otherwise when your toddler has a goodnight cuddle he’ll want it last a long time!

Sometimes a child does not want to be left alone in his bedroom and then either the parent will enforce it or the parent will stay the room and read until their child goes to sleep. Remember that your child is going through lots of different stages very quickly and may need extra reassurance at this age. Reading quietly in his room whilst he goes to sleep may be very reassuring for your child and for you, a time to relax. Reassuring a child is not spoiling him. He won’t always need reassurance but sometimes it will help him end his day happily.

If your child is scared of the dark, then do not enforce darkness in his room. A toddler’s imagination is very active and a child should never be kept in fear. Allow a lovely nightlight or keep the door open with the landing room light on.

Make sure his room is a welcoming place and that he loves his bed. Toddler beds and fun blankets are available and can really help with a happy bedtime for your child, and so for you.

Black out curtains are wonderful for keeping a room dark in the mornings so that your child is not simply woken by the sunlight streaming in his bedroom.

When you are away keep your toddler bedtime routine the same as at home and bring his familiar bedding. In this way, you should be able to get time off in the evening so that you too can enjoy your holiday!

For more tips and information on your toddler’s bedtime go to Toddler Bedtime Tips.

Debbie Morgan is a freelance writer and writes for Toddler Bedtime Tips.

By: Wheres My Property

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Of all the challenges parents face, getting your kids to sleep properly is possibly the biggest.

Whether it’s a screaming 6-month-old or a scared two-year-old, a full night’s sleep is a goal that can sometimes seem almost impossible to achieve.

If your baby won’t sleep through the night or you want to know how to get your baby to sleep in the first place.

Baby sleep solutions

Follow these steps to help your baby learn to settle herself without leaving her to cry it out.

Step 1: Watch for your baby’s sleepy signs: yawning, eye-rubbing and general crankiness.

Step 2: Put your baby in her cot while she’s drowsy but awake.

Step 3: If your baby cries, pick her up and comfort her with a ’shhh’ sound until she stops crying, then put her down.

Step 4: Continue with picking her up if she gets upset. Eventually she’ll realise that although you’re there to soothe her you’ll put her down once she’s calm, and she’ll learn to fall asleep by herself. She’ll begin to associate the ’shhh’ sound with sleep so that if she wakes the sound alone should help her settle.

This is the gentlest way of teaching your baby to fall asleep by herself. It can take a long time unless you’re really tuned in to spotting when your baby’s tired. Plus, constantly bending to pick up your baby can be hard on your back.

Tough out the tears

Try leaving your baby to cry for progressively longer periods of time until she settles herself.

Step 1: Put your baby in her cot awake, say goodnight to her, then leave the room.

Step 2: If your baby cries, wait five minutes before going in. Stay for a few minutes to reassure her, then say goodnight and leave the room.

Step 3: If your baby is still crying after five more minutes, go back in and repeat the process. This time, wait for 10 minutes before going back in, and extend the time between visits by two minutes until she falls asleep.

It’s probably the quickest sleep-training method. This short, sharp shock treatment takes a will of iron, because you have to wait while your baby cries and every instinct is telling you to comfort her. Although this technique works for many parents, some health professionals feel it may be emotionally and psychologically harmful to leave your baby to cry for any length of time.

By: paulcentric

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At Find A Babysitter.com.au, parents often ask us for tips about starting with a new babysitter or nanny. Here are our 10 simple tips for evening babysitting jobs:

1. House Tour: Conduct a brief tour of the house when the babysitter or nanny arrives. Include relevant door keys/locks, heating/cooling systems, baby monitor and telephone location.

2. Room Tour: Conduct a tour of the child’s room if relevant – including location of pyjamas, bedtime books/toys and nappy changing items (if required).

3. Facilities: Show your babysitter the tea, coffee, snacks, TV and bathroom facilities for the evening. Let her know what is allowed (e.g., rules for phone use, what she can eat) and not allowed (e.g., smoking, boyfriends).

4. Phone Numbers: Leave a list of phone numbers (your mobile phone, emergency contacts) and a completed ‘emergency information checklist’ (see resources on www.findababysitter.com.au)

5. Routine: Explain the steps of the bedtime routine – include the bed time, story time, tooth brushing, location of bottles, dummies and comfort toys.

6. Settling Strategies: Warn the babysitter if your child is likely to wake up during the evening. Tell her your settling strategies.

7. Cancellations: Never leave a sick child with a babysitter. Try to cancel as early as possible if you need to.

8. Timing: Tell the sitter the approximate time you expect to be home. If you are running late, call or SMS the sitter to advise her.

9. Payment: Prepare the correct change to pay the babysitter.

10. Safety: At the end of the evening, show the babysitter to her car for safety.

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Most children can be taught word recognition at a very young age. How? It is a similar method to learning to talk – children learn to talk by being exposed to people talking around them. To learn visual word recognition children need, first of all, exposure to the written word, in print.

Use children books with interesting stories. Picture books with few or no words in them will not teach your child to read. However, exposure to children’s books with many pages of print and the occasional picture will trigger your child’s curiosity about the story as well as familiarizing him or her with the written word. If, as you read to your child, you point to the words with your finger, your child will become more familiar with those words. Eventually he or she will begin to recognize the words when he or she sees them, especially those with a high emotional attachments

Flashcards can also be used to reinforce names of objects in the child’s environment. To teach your baby to read, on pieces of 10 x 10 inch plain white card, write words, in capital letters, that describe toys that belong to your child, for example “elephant’, and on another card ‘dog” and so on. Play the following game with your child. Place all the toys on the floor. As your child picks up a toy, show him the card with the word on it and say the word together. Repeat it as man times as he or she likes. Then read to your child a story about an ”elephant” or a “dog” or whatever animal or character you made word cards for. This will reinforce the word in your child’s mind, building word recognition abilities and increasing vocabulary. Additionally, invite your child to tell you a story, and you listen, write it down. When your child has finished, read the story back to him or her and point to each word as you go. When your child sees words in the context of her own vocabulary, it will again increase her recognition of the written word.

You should not have a preconceived schedule of success. There is no fixed time frame here. Your child could learn within days, weeks, or even months. Each child is different and your child’s ability will not be tested, but yours will. Your attitude, your patience, your perseverance, all of these will be tried and tested. You will find yourself having to evolve your own method for making your child love it.

You can use your imagination on your own teaching methods. A teacher friend of mine had her own method of teaching her daughter. She would hide a card with a word written on it behind her and approach her child playfully saying “What does mommy have for her baby” The one-year-old would look up and try to reach for the mysterious object. Then her mother would bring out the card and say with gusto “Cat!” The child’s delightful laughter proved that the game was having the desired effect. In no time at all, the child could read words. Soon she went on to short sentences. Her mother bought various simple books and every one held a treasure trove of knowledge for her young daughter. By the time she was four, the little girl surprised everybody with her familiarity with words and sentences. This mother’s success was due to her belief in her child, her healthy attitude, her patience, and her playfulness, which made her daughter look forward to every “reading game”

In the same way, you too can work out your own method for stimulating your child’s interest in the written word. It will be a success because of your great love for your child. And trust me, every second will be worth it.

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In this article I have decided to write about the most common things I have found to cause sleep problems in the first 18 months of a childs life. Over the years I have found all sorts of triggers for sleep problems such as hunger, dummy use, rocking a baby to sleep, allowing a baby to start falling asleep while feeding, being cold at night, the bedtime ritual the parents are using to get the baby to sleep and things such a going away or moving house.

So when do these problems start to show?

My experience indicates that babies don’t start to surface between sleep cycles (the process of drifting between light and deep sleep) until they reach about eight weeks. Newborn babies can be aided to sleep by sucking on a dummy or feeding or having a parent rock them to sleep and they will still sleep for long periods, however at about eight weeks daytime sleeps change. If you have aided your baby to sleep, you will notice that she will only catnap during the day. This is fine at first because she will be sleeping great stretches of time at night however at about five to six months this will suddenly change. The baby who is aided to sleep will suddenly start waking at night when night time sleep cycles start.

Usually a baby of six months will show the first signs of a self-settling problem by waking at about 5:00am. Then she will begin to wake at 11:00pm, and by the time your baby is one year old she will be waking at 9:00pm, 11:00pm, 1:00am, 3:00am and 5:00am! The sooner you solve the waking problem the better.

* Is your baby hungry?
* Dummies
* Rocking your baby to sleep
* Feeding a baby to slumber
* Cold at night
* Moving house

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Is your baby hungry?

Some babies catnap during the day or wake up at night because they are hungry. To be sure your baby is not hungry you need to feed your baby until she is full. This means if you are breastfeeding you need to feed your baby both breast until they have stopped feeding. However if you are following Tizzie’s early routines you only feed your baby for a set amount.

If your baby is bottle-fed you need to feed her until she has had enough there should always be milk left in the bottle after a feed and you should never give your baby a set amount. As explained in the bottle feeding article or in the Save Our Sleep book on page 30.

If your baby is over four months and showing sign’s of catnapping and waking again at night your baby may be ready for solids. If your baby is over six months I suggest you start solids. However if your baby is between four and six months you need to look at the pro and cons to starting solids. These are explained in my crash course in weaning article and in the Save Our Sleep book on page 111. Please take into account when making your decision on when to start solids that the world health organisation (WHO) says you should not start solids until at least four months and if possible six months. Click here to visit the WHO website.

If your baby has been on solids for more than seven days you should be feeding your baby two courses of solids at each meal until she is full and turns her head away. Some babies stop eating because they are bored not full so it is good to give them two tastes at each meal. Go to the top
Dummies

The most common trigger I have found for sleep problems is the dummy. In my experience, dummies cause 90% of all sleep problems in children under 18 months old. There are three main reasons why a baby with a dummy wakes more frequently than one without.

1. A baby with a dummy seems to find it harder to achieve a deep sleep, their intermittent sucking seems to disturb their sleep pattern.

2. A baby who goes to sleep with a dummy will wake up expecting to suck, but if the dummy has fallen out the baby will shout out for you to come and put it in again. Unfortunately, by the time you may decide to go in and replace the dummy, your baby is so awake, it is harder for her to get back to sleep, even when you have replaced the dummy.

3. I believe the constant sucking on the dummy tricks the body into thinking there is food coming, which causes them to digest their milk too fast and makes them hungrier than a baby without a dummy.

Dummy use appears to reduce the risk of SIDS, however I feel when you look at the side effects of using a dummy the reasons to not use a dummy outweigh this fact. One major reason is babies who suck on dummies tend to be more prone to ear infections. Ear infections may bring on high fevers and the use of antibiotics which both have side effects of there own.
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Rocking your baby to sleep

Rocking a baby to sleep is also an aid which you don’t want your baby to start to rely on to get to sleep. At first you again like with the dummy will not see the problem. You will rock your new baby to sleep and your baby will still sleep for long periods. But as with the dummy, when your baby starts to surface between sleep cycles the rocking will be needed again to get your baby back to sleep.

I believe it is unfair to start a habit you are not going to continue. Let’s say you find rocking your new baby to sleep an easy option. What happens when your baby gets too heavy for you to rock? Yes you can go out and buy a rocking chair and sit in it while you rock your older baby to sleep, but remember when your baby is 12 months old you will be getting up four of five times to rock her back to sleep between sleep cycles.

Yes this could work, but what happens if you have a second baby before your first starts to self-settle? What happens if your 20 month old toddler and your 4 week old baby both need rocking at the same time? As you can see, at some point you will have to stop the rocking. But at what age will your new baby understand why you have stopped rocking her to sleep? This is why I believe you should never start a habit such as rocking which will trigger a sleep problem. Go to the top
Feeding a baby to slumber

Feeding a baby to sleep is another trigger I come across quite often. The parents I talk to don’t even realise this is happening. When I ask parents if they put their baby down awake, they generally believe they do. However, what they don’t realise is that while their baby may look like she is awake, she has already begun reaching that heavy-eyed, falling asleep stage while feeding.

In reality, she has been aided into slumber. Therefore, when she wakes during the night, she wants that same help to get back to sleep. I ask these parents to bring everything in the bedtime routine forward by 20 minutes and have some play time before they put there baby to bed. Often just making this little change and asking the baby to settle from wide awake causes the night waking to disappear. Go to the top
Cold at night

This is a topic which comes up frequently for me and I seem to spend a lot of time telling parents their baby’s are not wearing enough at night. I have spent the last three years mostly doing my home visits in Australia, but for thirteen years before that I was in the UK. The thing that amazes me most is the difference in how the two sides of the world dress their babies at night.

In the UK parents put a lot more clothing on their babies at night, and I believe the temperature of their homes is actually warmer than the night time temperature in most of the homes I visit in Australia. In the UK they have a different type of central heating which keeps the house at a more even temperature throughout the night.

I am not sure if it is even the warmth the babies like or if it is that with more layers on they feel cosier and more secure. But I do know that the extra layers can stop babies from waking at night.

I often go on home visits to homes where the parents are convinced their baby could not possibly be cold. As an experiment I put their baby in a baby safe sleeping bag which are available in the Save Our Sleep? store. Over and over again just trying this extra layer helps the baby to sleep all night. I seem to have to tell parents over and over again that I believe their baby’s night waking is due to coldness but over and over again the parents just won’t believe it can be that simple. If your baby is cold at night, the waking normally happens at about 4:00am. Go to the top
Moving house

Moving house is very common in today’s society but it does not have to trigger a sleep problem with your baby or toddlers sleep patterns. The most important thing you need to do when moving house is make your baby or toddler, feel as safe and secure as possible. The easiest way to achieve this is to have your baby or toddler in a good feeding and sleeping routine. Baby’s and toddlers like to know what and when things are going to happen.

It is very important that your baby or toddler is in the same bed in the new house. So if you are not going to be able to set up the usual cot by the time your child has to have its first sleep in the new house, I recommend you put your baby in a travel cot and that you have had your baby or toddler sleep in it for the four nights prior to the move. It is a good idea to take your baby or toddler for a tour of the new house and explain to her where everyone’s room is and where you will be sleeping.

It is very important that your baby or toddlers routine is the same coming up to bedtime. If you usually give your baby her last feed then you need to do this. I know you may have an extra set of hands around that could do it for you but in the long run it will go smoother if you give your baby or toddler the normal attention at bedtime. Remember if bedtime goes well, you will have lots of uninterrupted hours to unpack.

Your baby or toddler may want to test the rules and boundaries in this new house. It is very important you give your baby or toddler clear messages that the rules are the same. This will make them feel safer. If, for example, you put your baby or toddler to bed on the first night and your baby or toddler got very upset and it was obvious to you they were emotionally upset, you should go and get her up and bring her out of the bedroom and calm and comfort your baby or toddler before putting her back to bed.

Whatever you do, don’t go in and then walk straight out, as this is controlled crying and I feel it will make your baby or toddler more emotional.

If you are moving interstate and there is a one hour time difference, then you should follow my daylight savings advice. If you are moving to a country with a much bigger time difference then you should follow my traveling with a baby advice. Remember moving abroad is easier that going on holidays as you wont have to adjust your baby again when you get home.

If you feel a dummy or rocking could be triggering your baby’s night waking then I suggest you put your baby on my routine for your baby’s age and after following the routine for four days stop using the dummy or stop rocking your baby to sleep. Instead use my recommended settling techniques for your baby’s age to get your baby to sleep. But the routine is the most important part of transforming your baby from a bad to good sleeper.

Tizzie Hall teaches parents to identify issues affecting their baby’s sleep, to interpret their cries and deal with problems when they arise. For more information from the international baby whisperer, or for baby products, visit Baby Sleeping Bag.

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