How to teach a 2-year-old child to fall asleep on his own?

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We have all heard a lot, and some have already experienced how a child and his behavior changes at 3 years old (and for some kids, a little earlier). For yesterday's baby, the period of growing up begins, realizing himself separately from his mother, the baby wants to show his independence and autonomy in everything. For some kids this simply manifests itself in greater emotionality, while others become a real little tyrant - eternal discontent, constant “no”, endless testing of the boundaries of what is permitted and hysterics at the slightest reason.

During this same period, sleep regression often occurs, frequent protests before going to bed, refusal of daytime sleep, night fears, when the baby, even previously sleeping peacefully in his crib, moves to his parents’ bed.

During this period, lack of sleep greatly affects the baby’s behavior and development. But what can you do to help the great, unwilling person at this age sleep peacefully?

Why do small children need to sleep during the day?

Both pediatricians and parents agree that a child needs good daytime sleep. An active and inquisitive baby spends a lot of energy and by the middle of the day already feels tired: he rubs his eyes, is capricious, and requires more attention from adults.

In order to get rid of the fatigue accumulated in the morning and restore wasted energy, you need to persuade the child to sleep.

The results of numerous studies and observations indicate that daytime naps have a beneficial effect on the mental state of the child. Having restored the spent energy, the baby becomes calmer, he does not need much attention, he can entertain himself on his own.

In addition, daytime sleep is an excellent prevention of neurological problems and behavioral abnormalities in children of preschool and primary school age.

Despite the importance of children's naps, some children can do just fine without them. The fact is that at the age of 1.5-2 years the need for sleep is significantly reduced, it is not for nothing that many mothers of two-year-olds complain that they do not know how to persuade their fidget to sleep during the day.

If a child at this age does not show any signs of fatigue during the day, and in the evening he has no problems falling asleep, it is quite possible that a night’s sleep is enough for him to regain strength.

But as practice shows, daytime sleep is still necessary for most children under the age of four. Therefore, parents face an important task: organizing their child’s daytime sleep. And it is advisable to do this in such a way that he falls asleep on his own and does not have to spend a long time persuading him to sleep. A proper daily routine will help make the bedtime process easier.

How to teach a 2-year-old child to fall asleep on his own?

Is your baby already two years old? It seemed to you that he should have “outgrown” all the problems with sleep and learned to fall asleep on his own, but you are still in the battle for getting him to sleep at night and during the day?

You are not alone. Among our clients there are many mothers of two-year-olds, and here are a number of typical problems they face:

• Baby takes a long time to fall asleep
• The baby does not know how to fall asleep on his own, does not “let go” of his mother when falling asleep, he has to sit until he falls asleep
• The child often wakes up at night and has difficulty falling asleep
• Coming to parents' bed in the middle of the night or early in the morning
• The child “stayed late” in the parent’s bed, it is impossible to finish sleeping together
• Very early morning awakenings
• Avoiding daytime naps

Where to start solving sleep problems for two-year-olds?

You should start by looking for the reason - why does the baby fall asleep and sleep like that? What prevents him from falling asleep and sleeping independently and continuously? And the reasons may lie at different levels of the Sleep Pyramid Sleep, Baby.

The reasons may be hidden in the health of the baby or his mother, in the sleeping conditions that are organized in his bedroom. Or in the incorrect organization of sleep and wakefulness. Often, too late bedtimes negatively affect the speed of bedtime and the duration and continuity of the child's sleep. The emotional state of the mother and the emotional overload of the baby can cause a long time to fall asleep and awakenings at night.

But one of the main reasons for poor sleep in children over 2 years old is the lack of the ability to fall asleep independently. The baby wakes up every sleep cycle and calls for mom to help him fall asleep.

This is why it is so important to teach your child to fall asleep on his own!

Difficulties in sleep training and age characteristics

Teaching your baby to fall asleep after 24 months can be a real challenge for parents. A child at this age is already much more interested in being awake than sleeping, and sleep habits are well established. Every day the baby tests the boundaries and rules of his parents for strength; he can already express protest with words, be mobile enough to get out of bed or even run away from the bedroom.

A crib that your baby can easily get out of (a bed without sides or a parent's bed) can create additional difficulties. There is no need to rush into switching to a crib without sides for children who have not yet developed the habit of falling asleep on their own. First, teach your baby to fall asleep on his own, and then decide to rearrange. In a crib without sides, it will be more difficult for you to teach your smart companion to follow the rules of sleep.

If you moved your baby to a crib without sides before teaching him how to fall asleep on his own, it's best to take a step back and return the crib with sides. This will make the process of learning to sleep faster and easier.

Restore the bumpers before your sleep improves.

Magic and motivation

How to teach a child to fall asleep and sleep continuously? You can already explain simple rules to a child aged 2 years and older, and also take him as an ally. The most effective way to teach such an adult child to fall asleep on his own is through magic. Write letters with tasks from the Dream Fairy or his favorite hero and put the letters under your pillow. You can include sleep rules in your letters - when it’s time to go to bed, when to get up, describe what behavior you expect from your baby. Let the child think that the rules are introduced by a magical hero, and you have nothing to do with these new rules. So it will be more difficult to challenge them J

Visibility and motivation play a big role. How to make the rules of the Dream Fairy clear:

• use our poster template
• write down in it all the requirements of the Dream Fairy, for example: Fedya must, at his mother’s request, put on pajamas and go brush his teeth; Mom tells Fedya only one bedtime story and sings only one song; Fedya lies quietly in his crib and falls asleep on his own;
• place the poster in a prominent place in your child's bedroom
• talk through the rules, explain to the child what behavior is required of him and what he will receive for completing tasks
• For each completed task, reward your child with a sticker or a small gift (candy, small toy, surprise)

If your child has followed all the rules during the week and all the slots are filled with stickers, promise him a more meaningful gift or a small adventure, such as ordering pizza or going to the park. These simple rules of behavioral therapy will help your baby learn the skill of falling asleep on his own.

Additional challenges at age 2

Over the age of 2 years, children face a number of difficulties with sleep:

Refusal of daytime sleep.

Most often, at this age, a false refusal of daytime sleep occurs - the baby resists daytime sleep, which his nervous system so needs to reboot and quality night sleep. To make it easier to fall asleep during the day:

• Try to maintain daytime naps until at least the age of 4 years, and preferably until school.
• Look for factors that distract your baby from sleep during the day - too much activity before bed, a stimulating environment, noise, older children.
• Gently but firmly continue to offer your baby naps every day. Even if the baby was unable to fall asleep, a “quiet hour” lying in the crib will help him take a break from excessive external stimulation and not become overtired by the time he goes to bed in the evening.

Potty training.

Potty training is an important developmental milestone for a child that can negatively impact nighttime and daytime sleep, or even be accompanied by sleep regression. The baby wakes up on the potty and calls his mother for help.

• Include potty sitting in your bedtime (day or night) and wake-up rituals, but leave the diaper on during bedtimes until your child regularly wakes up dry.
• If your child asks to go potty to pass time while getting ready for bed, take him to the potty once, and only once, and make it as “boring” as possible.
• There is no need to first teach your child to sleep through the night, and then “confuse” him by waking him up to go potty at night. The ability to “stick it out all night” will develop with age. But the habit of going to the toilet at night can become ingrained.

Nightmares.

Nightmares are bad, scary dreams. Nightmares occur in the second half of the night, during the REM stage of sleep. The child wakes up crying, tries to tell what scared him and LOOKS FOR MOMMY'S PROTECTION. Nightmares usually occur in children aged 2 years and older, and peak at age 3. In most cases, nightmares go away by age 5.

Childhood nightmares are a normal physiological process of an immature and undeveloped nervous system. This is a temporary feature of the baby’s brain, which consists in the inability to switch from the stage of overexcitation to the stage of inhibition. Nightmares are not a hereditary trait in children.

• Eliminate scary, frightening books, cartoons and films
• Read fairy tales about children and animals, without scary or fictional characters
• Respond quickly to a scream
• Don't give vitamins before bed
• Make sure your child is not overtired and gets enough sleep!

Preparing for the garden and mom going to work.

Most often, at this age, children begin to attend kindergarten, as mothers go to work. Of course, it is necessary to help the child take this step. By this time, the baby should already have learned to use the potty; he needs to have experience of falling asleep in his own bed not only with his mother, but it is better to teach the baby to fall asleep on his own.

We cannot in any way influence the daily routine in kindergarten, but if you adhere to the recommendations of Sleep, Baby, you will not have any big disagreements regarding the daily routine.

• Try to adapt to the kindergarten routine in advance (shift your wake-up time in the morning and nap time in advance)
• Do not change your routine on weekends and holidays
• Try to spend as much time as possible with your baby in the evening and in the morning so that he does not experience a lack of communication with his parents
• Try to maintain an early bedtime!

If you see that the child is lethargic in the morning and wants to lie in bed, then the evening bedtime should be moved half an hour earlier, which means the child did not get enough sleep. For a child aged 3 years, the best time to fall asleep at night is at 19:30, strictly no later than 20:00.

Transition to a bed without sides.

If the transition to a bed without sides occurs along with the move to the children's room, then try to make it as joyful and calm as possible.

How to arrange this? During the day, spend more time in the nursery, examine, discuss, pay attention to the pieces of furniture in it, kiss the child. The baby should fall in love with his room through positive associations with it.

It is advisable to take care of a removable sideboard for the new bed for the first time. The side will protect against accidental rolling and give the comfort of a “secluded mink”. While awake, praise the child in every possible way and be surprised that he has become such an adult that he is ready to go with his parents to choose a new bed and bedding. Have a small family holiday. Perhaps the choice of a new bed will come during the celebration of the third anniversary, then the exciting time will be filled with a feeling of adulthood and significance.

If you are unable to cope with your baby's sleep on his own, seek individual advice. Our consultants will teach you sleep tricks and help you improve your child's sleep.

Self-Falling Sleep TrainingSleep FrequentWaking UpSleep Conditions

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Daily routine is the key to good sleep

For a small child, daily routine is as important as sleep. Without being guided by time, the baby remembers the sequence of actions and subconsciously tunes in to this or that action.

After the morning toilet - feeding, then games, played and had a snack again, after that a walk in the fresh air, upon returning - lunch, and after lunch - time for sleep. If the same sequence of actions is followed day after day, the child has no reason to be capricious when going to bed, and the mother does not need to figure out how to persuade the child to sleep every time.

However, it is very difficult to completely subordinate the day of a small child to a routine. If he has moved a lot or is overtired, there is no need to wait until the hand on the clock points to the desired number, but put him to bed early. It’s the same with waking up: if he’s fast asleep, there’s nothing wrong with waking him up later.

The indicator of the correctness of the regime should be the child’s behavior, and not the arrow on the dial. If your child falls asleep well, has a sound sleep, after which he wakes up cheerful and in a good mood, then you are doing everything right.

What are the benefits of sleeping during the day?

An excess of impressions, high physical activity, knowledge of the world around us - all this tires the little person’s body, and he needs complete relaxation. Daytime naps allow your child to:

• relieve muscle fatigue;
• give your spine rest;
• normalize the activity of the nervous system;
• provide energy for the second half of the day.

“Nap-hour” is especially useful for hyperactive and anxious children, children with a weakened immune system: during daytime rest, all body systems are restored, primarily the nervous, digestive, and musculoskeletal systems, which experienced higher stress when awake.

We listen to psychologists

Child psychologists recommend, first of all:

• analyze the child’s general condition (excitability, biological rhythm, behavior before bedtime);
• count how much time he sleeps at night and during the day;
• and also evaluate your own behavior when putting your baby to bed. The main rule at this point is your absolute peace of mind.

The older your child is, the less time he needs to sleep properly. Therefore, when calculating the time allotted for daytime and nighttime sleep, see if your baby sleeps too much at night. Maybe you put him to bed too early or he wakes up too late? If this is the case, then try to adjust your sleep schedule: go to bed a little later or wake up a little earlier. In general, psychologists strongly recommend adhering to a certain regime - if possible, waking up and going to bed at the same time. This helps the body get used to a particular routine and adjusts the so-called biological clock.

If your baby is very active or easily excitable, be sure to take this information into account. Do not play noisy and active games just before bedtime, make sure that he is not too tired, including from vivid impressions. It’s better to read with your child, draw, or listen to soft, soothing music.

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Mandatory ventilation

This point should never be overlooked. Some young parents, due to their own inexperience, make a very common mistake. They do not freshen the air in the room before putting the baby to bed. It is likely that your sleep will be restless and interrupted. Don't forget about this important detail. There is no need to be afraid of catching a cold in your child. It is much worse if he is in a stuffy environment for a long time. You can sleep better in a ventilated room. This is because the child will not be bothered by the lack of oxygen. Fresh air promotes sound, healthy sleep, proper rest and recuperation.

In your crib or with your parents?

This is a very important issue that should be taken care of in advance. Where should a 2 year old child sleep? It's best if he has his own crib. This is how the baby learns from childhood that he has personal space. The result is healthy sleep. However, circumstances in life may be different. If a child sleeps with his parents, difficulties may arise for both the baby and the mother and father themselves. Adults are usually afraid of accidentally crushing the baby in their sleep, which is why they do not have the opportunity to properly rest. The baby may experience some lack of space. There is also such a problem as addiction. If a child falls asleep next to his mother for a long time, then it will be much more difficult for him to readjust. And this is not surprising. Habit forms character, additional fears and doubts.

We use global parenting experience

Based on global parenting practice, we can formulate several effective tips that will help not only answer the question “how to put a child to sleep during the day?”, but also turn putting a child to bed into a painless and calm process (both for the baby and for the mother). So:

• Create favorable external conditions for falling asleep during the day (muffled sound, drawn curtains);
• Provide maximum comfort for the child himself (so that the baby is not cold or too hot, so that he does not feel hungry);
• Get some fresh air before bed. Walking outside is often the best way to get your baby to sleep;
• Come up with a specific ritual for falling asleep (a fairy tale, a lullaby, putting toys to bed, talking with “Sonka-Dremka”);
• Allow me to take a couple of your favorite toys or books to bed with you;
• Let your baby just lie in bed. You can do it with a toy, or you can do it with your eyes open. Just quietly. For example, in order not to wake up a sleeping bear;
• Don't shout, don't get angry. Remember that it is you who teach your child to sleep, and not the other way around;
• If for some reason it is not you who puts your baby to bed during the day, but your husband (grandmother, aunt, nanny, etc.), make sure he follows the same falling asleep ritual that you and your child are used to.

As you can see, the tips on how to put a child to sleep during the day are quite simple and quite doable. The main thing is to be patient! Let your baby feel your calm, confidence and, of course, love.

Pleasant rituals

When your baby refuses to go to bed, there is no need to force him. It is absolutely forbidden to shout and promise to punish him if he does not obey. Here you need to act differently - softer and more subtle. What can you do? You can get into the habit of reading age-appropriate books before bed. Stories about “Kolobok”, “Ryaba Hen”, “Teremok” and other bedtime stories are quite suitable. It is extremely important for children 2 years old to learn to think positively. Nothing promotes this faster than reading children's books.

Some mothers teach their babies to put their favorite toy to bed first, and then to go to bed themselves. This is also a wonderful technique that sets you up for sound and long sleep. It is quite possible to use it. When a child wakes up in the morning, the first thing he can do is “wake up” the teddy bear, and then get out of the crib himself. Just don’t teach him to watch cartoons before bed or listen to loud music. These activities stimulate the nervous system. Move the computer away, it is better to take it to another room, if possible. TV and tablets also have no place in the nursery.