How do I get the television (and other electronics!) out of my child’s room without causing a week-long meltdown? In general, toddlers who have electronics in their room and use them right before bedtime get less sleep and have more sleep problems than ones who don’t. It may appear that the [...]
What is Ferber sleep training? The Ferber method is a type of modified (or graduated) extinction approach to sleep training. In the case of bedtime, extinction (unmodified) is simply a fancy way of saying “ignoring a specific behavior (like crying) until it stops.” It does not mean ignoring [...]
What should I know about toddler sleep? 1. It is normal for toddlers (and everyone else!) to wake several times during the night. 2. Most toddlers (over 80 %) stop taking naps between the ages of 3 and 4 years, but some will still need a nap at age 5 years and a few may even need a nap at age 6 [...]
When should I consider putting a small mattress on the floor for my toddler? If your child is falling asleep in your bed (the primary adult caregiver’s bed) and needs to have physical contact with you to do so, using a small mattress on the floor next to your bed can be a great first step in [...]
Why does my baby cry? Babies cry for many reasons. Many parents believe that crying always signals distress. Unfortunately, we cannot guess or know exactly what an infant feels when he wakes up during the night. However, we do know that crying is a very powerful form of early communication. Infants [...]
What is a sleep regression? There has been a great deal of talk about “sleep regressions.” What is a sleep regression? A sleep regression is reported to occur when a baby who was sleeping well (or relatively well) all of a sudden has a sleep issue, whether that issue is falling asleep at [...]
When do babies sleep through the night? Most babies are ready and able to start sleeping for long stretches, up to 8 to 10 hours, by 3 to 6 months of age. In the first few months, newborns can only sleep for a few hours at a stretch as they need to be fed at least every 2 to 3 hours. And often much [...]
What exactly is sleep training? Just like so many areas of development, children typically need help learning how to self-soothe to sleep. This process is often referred to as “sleep training.” Although there are multiple approaches, sleep training typically involves helping your child learn [...]
How can I build good sleep habits for my baby? There are many ways to do this, particularly after 3 months of age when your baby’s crying should have settled down and your baby is becoming more alert and awake during the daytime. Start by establishing a feed-play-sleep pattern, that is feed your [...]
Is it okay to give my toddler (12 months to 36 months) melatonin? We do not recommend giving melatonin to toddlers and there is little rigorous evidence that it helps children this young. Most toddlers who cannot get to sleep at the start of the night (the time when melatonin has the best effect), [...]