How and when children sleep. For questions on how to get them to sleep, see the [bedtime] tag.
27
votes
9answers
1k views
Is there any scientific evidence in favor of co-sleeping with children?
Many people choose to co-sleep with their children because of supposed psychological and sleep quality reasons. Are there any scientific studies or other concrete evidence to back them up?
24
votes
17answers
2k views
What are some do's and dont's for an effective bedtime ritual?
I think most parents agree that it's helpful to follow some fixed ritual when putting a child to bed.
What elements in such rituals are particularly useful, and what should be avoided?
There are ...
24
votes
8answers
10k views
Why does my infant wake crying the instant we put him in his bed?
This is probably a classic but here goes. Some time between midnight and three my 9 month old will wake crying. Often he is hungry or has gas and can be fairly easily consoled and falls asleep in our ...
23
votes
7answers
8k views
How quickly do I need to change my newborn with a dirty diaper?
How quickly do I need to jump on changing a dirty diaper? What are the downsides of waiting vs getting right to it?
I have two specific scenarios in mind:
I'm holding my son during the day time, ...
21
votes
9answers
3k views
How can I stop my two year old from taking off his diaper in bed?
Recently, my two-year-old son has been taking off his diaper at nap time. It's usually full and dirty and makes a big mess. He has managed to do it while wearing all types of pants (even overalls). ...
19
votes
11answers
14k views
How do I get my 6-month-old to sleep better at night?
So our 6-month-old boy still doesn't sleep through the night. He still wakes up at least once and wants to eat.
He takes 3 naps during the day, ranging from 30 minutes to 1.5 (sometimes 2) hours.
We ...
17
votes
8answers
385 views
How do you manage free time when you have kids?
My problem is I have almost zero free time. I have two young kids 3 and 2 when they where young my wife didn't want to let them fall asleep by themselves so now I take the 2 year old and my wife ...
17
votes
3answers
4k views
How do you potty train for overnight?
My three year old is well on her way to being potty trained. She rarely has any accidents, , at least during the day. My wife and I put her in pull ups to sleep at night.
My question is, whats the ...
14
votes
8answers
827 views
Is crib use (mostly) universal?
We have friends who decided against a crib in favor of a futon mattress on the floor. This idea came from the book Montessori from the Start. The benefits for the baby are that they aren't confined ...
14
votes
4answers
8k views
Getting a 2-year-old back to sleep in the middle of the night
We have always had trouble with our little boy not sleeping through the night. He will do it in spells (every night for a week, then not at all for a fortnight). But he has recently developed a ...
13
votes
8answers
4k views
How to calm a toddler before bedtime?
I don't know about older children, but toddlers often get more agitated as they get more tired and by the time they are in bed it can take a while before they actually sleep.
I often read that taking ...
13
votes
4answers
420 views
When upgrading our toddler from a cot to a bed, how do we keep him in his bed?
We want to convert our son's cot into a bed this weekend (starting Friday evening). We think it's time to transition because he often tries to climb out (but fails yet), and during daytime playing he ...
11
votes
7answers
9k views
Are there any dangers or downsides to white noise as a calming tool
We find white nose to be extremely effective for soothing our 5-week old son. Loud white noise (60 decibels or so) will help soothe him when he is overtired and crying, and if we play soft white noise ...
11
votes
7answers
6k views
How can I get my toddler to sleep later in the mornings?
My son, now 15 months old, was sleeping through the night, and waking up consistently at 6am. However, over the past few months he had been gradually waking up earlier. Now he wakes up consistently ...
11
votes
6answers
15k views
Do I really need to wake my newborn to feed him?
We have a two week old child. He's eating well during the day, eating at least 8 times a day, and is breast feeding. His weight gain has been 'normal' so far, and he regained his original birth weight ...
11
votes
7answers
9k views
How can my toddler learn to stay under the blanket at night?
My 2yo son slept in a sleeping bag (see image below) until around 1½ years old, then he didn't like that anymore so we switched to using a blanket. He moves around so much while sleeping that the ...
11
votes
4answers
3k views
At what age do kids start sleeping through the night?
My son is now almost 12 months old and he still doesn't sleep through the night regularly. Maybe one night a month he will sleep from 7pm->6.30am without waking, and that's only if he's utterly ...
11
votes
2answers
461 views
How can we end nighttime 'comfort' nursing?
My wife and I are just finishing up a 4 week trip home to visit the grandparents (we live in Australia, they in North America). We have introduced the unfortunate habit in our 10 month old daughter ...
10
votes
4answers
799 views
Should I respond to “fussing” the same as crying in an infant?
During the night my 7-week-old will fuss in his sleep (grunt, flail, etc...). This fussing rarely proceeds to crying but he usually will not settle on his own. When I pick him up he will usually ...
10
votes
10answers
430 views
How can I help my pre-schooler to relax and fall asleep?
Our 5-year-old has trouble going to sleep at night. If we put her to bed at 8, she might not fall asleep until 10 or 11, then sleep in until 9 the next day. She'll lay in bed and try to go to sleep, ...
10
votes
8answers
1k views
How do you stop a toddler from trying to get into bed with her parents in the middle of the night?
For a few weeks now my 2 year old daughter has woken up in the middle of the night crying for mom or dad. This started out when we took off her diaper and she would cry to go to the potty. She picked ...
10
votes
4answers
661 views
How can I stop my toddler from having nightmares about robots?
When my son was one-and-a-half, my sister gave us a Wall.e Robot toy; it talks when you push buttons and moves back and forth. He loved it.
But all of a sudden a year later he has become terrified of ...
10
votes
6answers
4k views
2 year old still does not (and has never) slept through the night
In his now 26 months of life, he has probably slept all the way through the night 15, maybe 20 times. They seemed to be an irregularity, never happened two nights in a row.
He is a easy as pie to ...
9
votes
3answers
160 views
Baby awake in the morning but quiet?
Our baby is nearly 6 months old, and generally when awake during the day (from 8-9 AM) he needs attention and care (at least periodically, otherwise he is pretty good at inventing occupation for ...
9
votes
6answers
6k views
What is the correct temperature and humidity to maintain in a child's room at night?
We have been advised to keep the child's bedroom cool and humid. Are there any specific guidlines on the correct ranges of temperature and humidity?
Currently, we are using a humidifier and have ...
8
votes
5answers
3k views
Our 4 year old won't fall asleep until 11pm
Our 4 year old doesn't like to sleep. I know that sounds like what every kid says, but let me clarify. She doesn't cry at bedtime, she just won't sleep.
We start to get her ready for bed around 8pm. ...
8
votes
5answers
9k views
How do you prevent a toddler from waking too early?
My 18 month old has started waking up progressively earlier every morning for the past couple of weeks. It used to be that he would wake up between 6am-7am, which was no problem because I would wake ...
8
votes
5answers
782 views
My 8 year old son won't fall asleep
We put him to bed at 9pm and he stays up til 1am or later. When I go to check on him he is always playing with his hands and sometimes talking. I ask him why he is awake and not trying to sleep and he ...
8
votes
4answers
4k views
Is it traumatic for a toddler to be left in their bedroom with the door shut?
I've posted here before asking for advice for getting our toddler (2 yrs 5 mths) to sleep, as he's going through a very difficult phase. Once put to bed, he constantly gets out of bed and/or screams. ...
8
votes
6answers
1k views
How do we help our toddler to sleep through the night?
My 14-month old daughter is no longer breastfeeding, and sleeps happily in her bed, although it is still in our room. But she wakes up around three times at night, and as far as we can determine it's ...
8
votes
6answers
3k views
Controlled crying isn't working at night. What are my options?
We used controlled crying to help our daughter get to sleep easier at 6 months. This was hard work at the time but now, at 10 months, we can reliably put her down at the end of her bed time routine ...
8
votes
5answers
19k views
How long can a 3-month-old go without eating?
My 3-month-old son has started sleeping through the night, with a vengeance. He sleeps for hours. And when he finally wakes up and I expect him to be starving, he's often still ready to happily play ...
8
votes
3answers
570 views
Why do my children cry in my wife's arms but are quiet with me?
It's strange that my child often wakes up at night and starts crying uncontrollably and just won't calm down and go to sleep unless I take him in my arms (1.5 years of age).
My second son who is just ...
8
votes
4answers
288 views
What is the best way to transition from away from co-sleeping
We are co-sleeping with our son. At some point in the future, we will need to transition him out of our bed. What is the best way to do this? Cold turkey vs gradual? Specific age vs signs he's ...
8
votes
5answers
2k views
How can I get my 2.5 year old to sleep on his own?
My toddler sleeps well at night, its getting him to bed part is really frustrating. The main problem is that he won't let me leave the room until he falls asleep. He is not scared to be alone, he ...
7
votes
4answers
928 views
How can I prevent my 2 year old from covering her face with a blanket when she sleeps?
For the past couple of months, our two year old has been covering her face (her whole head, actually) with a blanket whenever she sleeps. At night we usually go in after she has fallen asleep and ...
7
votes
5answers
2k views
How to prevent children from sucking their thumb?
My 4-years-old daughter still sucks her thumb while sleeping.
How can help her stopping this habit?
I have tried to give her a pacifier, but she refuses it.
She does not have this habit during the ...
7
votes
3answers
3k views
How do I stop my child from grinding his teeth while sleeping?
How do I stop my 4 year old son from grinding his teeth while he is sleeping?
7
votes
5answers
925 views
Should we change a wet diaper and risk triggering a night tantrum or leave our son be?
Our 2-year old son is going through a rough period - we have cut his breastfeeding to once daily (before bed) and his sleep pattern is changing and is therefore unpredictable. Lately, he will often ...
7
votes
7answers
4k views
What are your remedies for baby acid reflux?
My 9-month baby suffers from moderate acid reflux since she was 3-month old.
Our doctor put her on prescription, but we also tried the usual solutions like keeping her propped during sleep (I use a ...
7
votes
6answers
5k views
How can I keep my infant from sleeping while bottle feeding?
We've been trying to get our infant on a schedule, but he tends to fall asleep before he's done eating, which makes it challenging, because he doesn't finish, and wakes up hungry too early. It also ...
7
votes
5answers
4k views
Why is my toddler having trouble sleeping?
My son is 3 years old and lately he has been having problems sleeping. I've heard kids his age are supposed to sleep around 10-12 hours a day, although I'm no sure. He used to sleep on the afternoons ...
7
votes
2answers
558 views
At what age is it safe to have toys in a baby's crib?
I've heard many times that you shouldn't put toys (or pillows or blankets) in a baby's crib while they sleeps, to reduce the risk of accidental suffocation. But I don't remember ever hearing when it ...
7
votes
3answers
546 views
3 Year Old suddenly doesn't want to sleep
My 3 year old son has suddenly started fighting sleep at every opportunity. He is an absolute angel during bath time and getting ready for bed but will not settle. This has come out of the blue. In ...
6
votes
3answers
185 views
In what way does reading story books to babies help them (besides falling sleep), and at what age should it be started?
There is a cultural difference.
Where I come from there is no concept of reading story books as a bed time ritual to babies. Though I do remember my father telling me mythological stories in order ...
6
votes
5answers
914 views
Teaching a (almost) 3 year old she can fall asleep on her own
Our toddler (almost 3) at some point a few months ago stopped falling asleep by herself - now one of us needs to sit with her in her room, hold hands, etc. until she fully falls asleep. What is ...
6
votes
6answers
5k views
Advice for carrying out the “Stay in Bed” technique with our 2-year-old
My two-year old has always had trouble settling and sleeping through the night, but recently the problem seems to have become an awful lot worse. It all came to a head one night a few weeks ago after ...
6
votes
7answers
320 views
How do we get an eight month old back to sleeping in his crib?
Our son's crib is in our bedroom, and he was mostly sleeping the whole night in his crib with no issues. Do to a series of events (power outage, spending the night at relatives with no crib, needing ...
6
votes
4answers
3k views
How should we cope with 12 month old waking in the night?
We are trying to get our 12 month olds sleep routine improved now that both of us will be returning to work.
We've been working on getting the settling routine sorted out each night, and haven't ...
6
votes
7answers
1k views
When should I stop swaddling my baby?
I swaddled my baby in a swaddling blanket for a short time after he was born, and then moved on to a Halo combination sleep sack and swaddle blanket. He is now nearly 3 months old, and I'm still using ...
