5 Things to Do When Your Toddler Won’t Sleep
Parents know better than anyone else that getting a child to fall asleep is one of the most difficult tasks in their early years. While newborn babies will inevitably be waking up at odd hours and very sporadically, toddlers should start to develop a more normal routine. Getting them into a routine is vital for their sleep habits down the road. Here are some things to try when your toddler won’t sleep:
1. Back Rub
If you’ve ever received a professional massage before, you know how relaxing a back rub can be. While a massage isn’t necessary for young children, you can lightly rub or scratch your child’s back to help them settle into bed. The feeling of the back rub, combined with the comfort and security of knowing you’re right next to them will be all it takes to get your toddler sleeping soundly.
2. Warm Bath
Who doesn’t get relaxed from a warm bath?! If your toddler can’t fall asleep, this could be the solution they need that will do the trick. Set up the warm bath for them, but try not to include too many toys that will get them into a playful mood. A 15 to 20 minute bath may be all it takes to get your baby sleeping like … well, a baby!
3. Essential Oils
Essential oils are hidden gems for helping people fall asleep. One of the most popular and effective one is lavender. Studies have actually shown that the aroma of lavender oil causes better sleep quality. Either waft the aroma in your child’s direction while they’re in bed, or leave a drop of it on their pillow.
4. Establish Ritual
Establishing a bedtime ritual is one of the most important parts of getting your child into bed and falling asleep. Rituals or routines prior to bed not only get your child in the mindset that sleep is imminent, but it’s a nice practice for the parents to take part in. Make sure you do everything in order each night; perhaps a bath, brushing teeth, a bedtime story, and then it’s lights out!
5. More Exercise
Exercise should be an extremely important aspect of everyone’s life, not just the kids. If your little one doesn’t get all that energy out of them during the day, they could become anxious and unable to sleep at night. Try to get your child to exercise a little extra in the afternoon to exhaust some of that extra energy, and you can be sure they’ll be ready for bed by nighttime.
Also read: The Importance of Naps for Toddlers
Written by Stephanie Parker from Sleepingbaby.com, inventors of the Zipadee-Zip
The motto for Sleeping Baby, makers of the Zipadee-Zip, is: "Inspiring Dreams One Night at A time," and that, in a nutshell, is how it all started…with one little dream that has since become the Parker family's reality. When Brett and Stephanie Parker's daughter, Charlotte, was born, the feeling that welled up inside of them was indescribable; they never realized until first looking into those baby blues of hers that they were even capable of that kind of love.
When it was time to transition baby from swaddling, the Parkers tried every sleep sack on the market and every swaddle weaning trick they could find for nearly two weeks and nothing worked to get baby Charlotte to fall and stay asleep.
Stephanie became determined to restore sleep and sanity to their household and set out to find a solution that would soothe Charlotte's startle reflex and provide her the cozy womb-like environment she loved so much but still give her the freedom to roll over and wiggle around in her crib safely. Out of sheer desperation and exhaustion, the Zipadee-Zip was born. The first Zipadee-Zip(R) Stephanie put together on her little sewing machine worked like magic!
To date, tens of thousands of Zipadee-Zips have been sold and all from word-of-mouth marketing. It is so rewarding for the Parkers to see other parents and babies getting the sleep they both need and deserve!
Interested in writing a guest blog for Sleeping Baby? Send your topic idea to pr@sleepingbaby.com.
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