Later Wake-Up Calls

If you have a child who tends to come into your room and get you up before the crack of dawn, try buying a digital clock for her room. Cover up the minute numbers and tell your child that it is OK to wake up mom and dad when there is a 7 on her clock. Most kids love having their own clock, and most parents love having extra sleep.

Sweet Dreams

To minimize bad dreams, try ending the day by having a talk with your child about the "good stuff" that happened that day. List all the fun things, and the happy thoughts will help you both relax, and feel grateful for the little things in your life.

Getting Kids Out of Bed

For really slow movers in the morning, try moving bedtime 15 minutes earlier for each time a parent has to go back upstairs to get them out of bed. This usually proves to be a very effective incentive to get slowpokes moving.

Sleeping Through the Night

Night wakings after months or more of sleeping through the night can be caused by a wide number of reasons. Some possibilities are: the eruption of molars, nightmares, night terrors, fear of the dark, fear of falling asleep, stress, a change in daily schedule, or illness - particularly ear infections. To deal with the situation, first you need to figure out what the cause is. Did anything change in your child´s life just before she started waking at night? When did she last visit the doctor? Is your family undergoing any new stresses? Once you determine the cause, you should be able to deal with it and all of you will once again be getting a full night´s sleep.

Bedtime Tickets

To help settle your child down at night, you can try making him "bedtime tickets". Give your child three passes at bedtime - numbered 1 to 3, or colored green, yellow, and red - and allow him three opportunities to use them. When the passes are all used up, he must stay in bed, regardless of the excuses. This allows flexibility on your behalf, and some power for your child.

No More Monsters!

If monsters in your child´s room are causing bad dreams, you may want to try "Monster Spray". Decorate a spray bottle, and fill it with water. Each night before bed, your child can spray her room, and under her bed with "Monster Spray" to keep the monsters away until morning.

Bedtime Rituals

Typical signs of sleep deprivation are crankiness and irritability. Let the bedtime routine be a pleasure rather than a duty.

Nighttime Company

To help settle a toddler into bed and staying there, we find an aquarium is a perfect night-light. The glow of the light, the company of the fish and the rhythmic sound of the heater all help toddlers fall asleep without fuss.

Daytime Naps

Without sufficient sleep, your child will be cranky, less cooperative, and it will likely affect her appetite and she will not eat as well as she should. She will also sleep less well at night if she is overtired. Young children often refuse to nap because they don´t want to miss anything. It is very much worth putting in extra effort on your part to get her to sleep. You may want to go for a long walk with her in the stroller or a drive in the car around the usual nap time. If that doesn´t work, you may want to try letting her cry it out in her crib, similar to how you would to get her to sleep at night. Be sure to keep a consistent routine, and have a specified time for her nap everyday, say 1 PM, just after a lunch and with a full tummy. Try reading books or having quiet time just before laying her down, and she should soon become accustomed to the routine.

Sleep Solution

To help our kids settle down and feel reassured at bedtime, we let each of them sleep with either Mommy or Daddy´s shirt that we wore that day. Mommy´s shirt usually smells like perfume, and Daddy´s like his cologne, so the kids love to snuggle and smell the shirts. They feel as though we are in bed with them and find this to be very comforting.

Buy an Alarm Clock

To help your child go to bed easily, and stay there, you may want to invest in an alarm clock for her room. You can have your child turn it on at night to help her feel as if she controls when she sleeps. You can buy an alarm clock that plays bird, ocean, and brook sounds, to help ease your child into waking up. Your child will likely feel more grown up and eager to take on more responsibility.

Easing Bedtime Fears

If your child is frightened of imaginary monsters under her bed and cannot sleep, try removing her bed frame and placing her boxspring and mattress directly on the floor. You will eliminate anywhere for the monsters to hide, and ease your child´s mind.

Whisper

To help calm down energetic toddlers and get them ready for night, sometimes my husband and I will start whispering to ourselves and the kids about an hour before bedtime. It really slows them down, and quiets them too.