Parenting expert Kathryn Mewes, answers one reader’s question about her baby who won’t sleep through the night
Q.) I would like tips on how to get my 11-month old to sleep through the night. After his 3am feed, it takes an hour to settle him most nights as he wants to come back in bed with us. I’m really trying to get him out of this habit?
A.) Firstly, I have 100% sympathy with you, sleep deprivation has such a strain on all elements of your life. The main thing with your son is that you allow him to self settle to sleep at ALL times.
By this I mean that during his daytime sleep you leave him to settle to sleep in his cot alone, and you follow the same routine at night when he goes to bed at 7/8pm.
The reason I say this is because children tend to come into a light sleep six times a night. When they wake they expect to settle to sleep in the same way as they did at bedtime at 7/8pm.
If you stay with your son until he falls to sleep he will believe he always needs you to be with him for him to fall to sleep. I am predicting that he ‘needs you’ at 3am due to how you are settling him to sleep at 7/8pm.
So, with this in mind I suggest you set a clear bedtime routine involving his bath, bottle and then two stories before laying him in his cot and saying goodnight. It is important that the room is dark so that he can ‘switch off’ from the visual stimulation around him.
He is likely to initially shout at the change in routine but I am very confident that after three consecutive nights of a clear routine and leaving him to self settle you will find that the 3am wake disappears. Good luck!
Parenting expert Kathryn Mewes is brought to Baby London in conjunction with Milton. Well known as C4’s Three Day Nanny, Kathryn’s expertise covers sleep problems, eating and weaning, behavior and discipline. I hope this helps!
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