Sleep is essential for your child’s development. According to experts, children that don’t get adequate and healthy sleep are likely to develop serious brain development issues. Getting your child to fall asleep might seem easy. It, however, is not. Unlike adults, kids don’t fall asleep quickly. They, therefore, need some assistance, and this is where sleep training comes in. As a parent, you have to help your child to master the skill of falling asleep and staying asleep. A few sleep training sessions will help with this. These sessions are not easy to pull off. This article will share a few secrets on how you can make your baby’s sessions a success.
Establish a routine. It is easy to achieve success if you create a sound routine, and be sure to stick by it, during each session. Create a list of activities that you will engage in. For instance, you can sing or read a book. Again, choose an appropriate time. You can, for example, decide to start your sleep training in the afternoon and evenings. Whatever you do, don’t fail to stick to the routine that you create. Why? Because if you do, you’ll disorient your child. Hence, making it even harder for them to fall asleep with ease.
Create a favorable environment. This is a crucial step that you mustn’t overlook. Light, heat, and noise are the culprits behind sleep disturbances for most toddlers. Make sure that your child’s room is cool. Turn off any noise-generating gadgets in your household. Also, consider getting darker shades to minimize light. You can also play relaxing music. Setting the right scene will increase your child’s odds of falling asleep without any trouble. Be consistent. Don’t introduce any drastic changes. For instance, assuming that your child’s room receives minimal light, don’t wake up one day and decide to allow more light into the room as they sleep.
Avoid staying by your child’s side as they fall asleep. Watching your child sleep is a great experience. However, for successful sleep training, you have to minimize the time you spend beside them. Always make a point of distancing yourself gradually from them. For instance, if you stay one meter away from them during the first day, make sure that you stay three meters away the next day. Doing this will make it easier for your baby to fall asleep independently. Your child will likely cry, particularly if they were used to falling asleep in your arms. Don’t rush to pick them up when they cry. Leave them be until they get accustomed to your absence.
Lack of consistency is the primary cause of failure. Don’t expect that following your routine for a week and later ignoring it for the next week will bear any results. It is only by being consistent that you will see optimal results. If you don’t have a clue where to start with, you can consult with sleep training experts. They will give you a few start-up tips, and offer you any support that you might need, in the course of the training sessions.