Toddlers don't really sleep... or do they...

Lets talk about sleep and little kids...

Most would agree that the kids need to know what to expect every night, if its bath and story or a bowl of popcorn each night, it needs to be the same.  The brain likes patterns and remembers what is supposed to come next, bedtime is no different for our smart little brains!

If you have a little one that just can NOT regulate and sleep after months of doing the same, then try and look for other things that can help, but keep the routine the same.

1.  Try to do a little toddler resistance training during the day.
~Don't  you look at me sideways! I'm serious!  Have your toddler bring the gallon of milk to the table at dinnertime.  Perhaps the little one can push the full laundry basket across the house to where it needs to be. If you have more than one child, have them take turns pulling one another across the floor using a blanket.  This toddler workout can be helpful and fun!  What happens is the little muscles get a good work out and help the body understand that it needs rest.  You may find that your little one needs to do their big workout earlier or later in the day, based on their energy levels.

2.  Try some ambient noise.
~The sleep cycle is not just a fall asleep and then wake up, it is a series of events that happens in cycles through out the night.  You will notice that your young one is easier to wake one time than another, this may be that you happened to wake them at a certain time in their sleep cycle.  To help make sure that some little unexpected noise doesn't wake them, have some little noise in the back ground.  The sound of the ocean or other small noise is relaxing in the background. Small sounds will cover the unexpected sound of a car passing or squirrel at the window. If you have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, or a sleeping sibling moves around a lot, the ambient noise will help to keep the brain from trying to figure out what the noise is.

3.  Go with or without a night light.
~You may find that your child wakes in the night and needs the light to orient where they are, or that the light tells them to get up and explore.  There is no right or wrong with this!  Each child is going to vary on the level of stimulation they can take if they woke in the middle of the night before they can go back to sleep.  If you find that they cry with out one, then by all means keep it.  Once a child starts to freak out, they are awake, so its better to avoid this scene all together.

4. Drinks
~Some people are trying to break night wetting and so they try and keep the night drinks to a minimum.  If you are avoiding the night stand drink, make sure the room is moist enough.  A humidifier in the room will help the body not dry out and trigger a thirst response in the night.  Make sure to have this item where the children can not get to it, and it does not have a heating element that can be exposed.  There are many options that can work for you fairly cheap.

5. When everything is broken and nothing fixes it and the world is crashing down on you...
~I have a sensory child that does not regulate sleep.  Her body does not make melatonin in the dark and let her body know that it is time to sleep.  Here are some things that we have had to do to keep her safe, and for her to get some sleep.

A. Our doctor recommended melatonin.  Check with your doctor to see if this is right for your child.  This does not cause them to fall asleep like some medications parents try and use (benadryl or other PM medications) but helps them get to the state of falling asleep.  If the child does not rest after taking the melatonin, the body will act as if it is not there and fight the effects.  We have reading time after the melatonin in a dim room and they slowly go to sleep.

B.  As a very small toddler, we had to gate her in her room with a safety gate.  This allowed us to hear her with the door open, and also reminded her that she couldn't wander the house in the middle of the night when she woke.

C.  Her room was set up for sleeping only.  By taking the toys out of the room, we created a sleep space that didn't remind her of playtime.  A few snuggly blankets, comfortable animal or two, and her noise reducing environment helps her to sleep the night through.

There are many more options out there, and I am not an expert, by far, so keep plugging away.  Eventually they sleep, or grow up lol.

Happy sleeping!