After our baby was born, our toddler went from sleeping peacefully and easily at nap and night time to being a total terror! He wouldn’t take naps, would stay awake until well after midnight, and it was just awful. I did some reading on toddler sleep habits and came up with a brilliant plan that I think can work for you if you’re having sleep issues with your toddler.
The problem with sleep time was that our son wanted to have the light on and his books in his room and would thus “read” for several hours and refuse to fall asleep. I wanted to eliminate the light and books so that when he was in his bed he would just go to sleep.
We got a digital timer and set it for 10 minutes. We brushed his teeth, put his jammies on, and gave him his books to read until the 10 minutes expired and the timer beeped. Then we would come in, set the timer for another 5 minutes and read to him until it beeped again. Then we put him in his bed, sang a song, and lights out.
Since we started doing this, bedtime has been so much easier. He takes earlier naps and is ready to go to bed by 8:00 instead of midnight. He doesn’t scream and cry about turning the lights off or putting the books away because the timer gives him a manageable routine that he can depend on.
If you’re having sleep issues at your house, try a timer. It has worked for us!
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