How does your toddler fall asleep at night?

[bdaygrl]

My 14 month old can roll around on the bed for up to one hour talking/yelling/fussing and trying to climb off the bed before she finally knocks out.

We have to be sitting there next to her the whole time and laying her back down when she sits up. It's such a struggle.

I'm dreaming of the day when I can kiss her goodnight and leave the room. I don't know how to start. Any advice from anyone who has been there done that??

 

[isabelandrew]

Hi, I didn't have a huge problem since we trained her from NB. My MIL taught me and it took me a few mths to work and plus my own method.
She sleeps on the mattress placed on the floor. In the evening, I will touch her head and sing 'head and shoulders knees and toes", all the way touch her from head to toe. very quick one. this i caught her attention and understand this is bed time.
I lie beside her, hum a slow lullaby once or twice. then i remain quiet. i wont be pulling her back. my girl the more attention u give her before sleeping, the more ATTENtive she is. if she trys to get up and climb somewhere, i tell her 'dark dark wor'.. she now understand dark is a little scary. within 30 mins, she will tone down to sleeping mood. just before she goes into deep sleep, i kiss her good night and tell her good night. then i leave the room. depending on how sticky ur girl is, my girl will watch me go out but she has swicthed to sleeping mood. so will go to sleep liao... hope this helps.

 

[Ting]

for pin.... it varies.
NB time, she just KO herself since she slps alot.
when she got older, say around 7-8 mths til toddler age, just place on the bed, pass her the bolster and give a 5-10 mins pat she will be in her deep slp.
i think arnd 2 yo onwards, i stopped all patting, just place her on the bed, off the lights, pass her the bolster and lie there with her, she will doze off herself within 10 mins too. LOL.
btw, i usu give her milk b4 slping, sometimes once she finishes her milk, she will auto fall aslp alr.

for me, i agree with isabel, dont give any unnecessary attention. pin knows i will "ignore" her when its bed time, i will just tell her SHHHHHH, KEEP QUIET,SLEEP. then she wont dare to talk. hahaha! cos the more i talk n respond to her, the more alert she will be, so i just tell her to keep quiet n go to slp.

 

[STmummy]

Although my son dont need anymore carrying or patting to make him sleep (he is 21 months now), he always wants Mummy to sleep next to him. will tell Daddy 'nite nite, please go out'. Wants me to lie down next to him and hug him or he will want to put his hands under my armpit. (Yes, you read it right..) For whatever reason, I dont know. Comfort maybe..

We will switch off the lamp and lay next to him, sing for him and wait for him to drift off to dreamland. But he must have someone in the room with him, esp me. We had been trying to ask him to sleep by himself, Daddy & Mummy go outside. But he will start to whine and cry so sadly... asking me to stay with him.

Will it help if I have night light for him? Any methods to make miracles happen??? I, too, need help on how to make your toddler sleep by himself. sigh.. esp so cos he is going to CC next year.

 

[Frenchkitty]

My son lies down on his mattress which is in my in-laws' room, drinks his night feed and falls asleep. No patting needed...

but my worry is, we will be moving to our own place early next year and he will have his own room. I wonder if he will sleep alone in his own toddler bed.

 

[apollo]

ds will have milk, aft milk hug his lil bolster or sometimes mine, and we will pat him to slp. usually abt 10 min to make him KO> sometimes if he is very tired, will fall aslp while having milk -.-"""

at times, he also like to go up to our bed and jump ard like monkey and we just lie on the floor on his mattress and IGNORE him. aft 10-15 of monkey-ing ard, he will come down and want us to pat him slp. at times, he will just roll to a corner with his bolster and slp.

he is still okay, just tt he still nd us to pat and sing 'twinkle twinkle lil star' b4 he can slp. haha..

 

[STmummy]

anyone's toddler can sleep in the room by themselves, without parent accompanying? really wonder how to transit to make it happen... :err:

 

[diymummy]

My son used to be able to sleep on his own. But when he went to cc, they started to pat him to sleep. So now we have to pat him to sleep.

He likes the Barney ending song "I love you, you love me" so we sing it as a bed time song with a good night hug and kiss. After that he will hug his pillow and blankie and let us pat him to sleep.

Before that, we had to struggle too to put him to bed. I believe the bed time routine really helped for me.

 

[bdaygrl]

Thanks for all your tips mummies! They are really useful. Sounds like ignoring is the best technique, but if i ignore her when she starts sitting up on the bed, she will start crawling all over wanting to play, then start crying for attention. Any tricks on how to make her lie down on her own without me doing it for her?

 

[apollo]

does faking slp works? sometimes me and my hub will act as if we're slping and ds will feel lonely and come and lie btwn us. but usually if he is too hyperactive at night (though it seldom happen nowadays), i will just say a very firm "SLEEP!!!!!!!!!!!" he will quickly go to his pillow and lie on it and we will quickly pat his butt. haha..

 

[ahpei]

i used to ignore my gal when she was younger, and told her to sleep.. but apparently, that technique did not work well. so we had to create a lot of noise, like knocking the table, and told her that she is making to much noise, and the policeman or aunty from next door is coming.. then she will just keep quiet, and had her eyes closed....

now, her brother at 21 months, who is also very active before sleeping, we have to tell him that 'thunder is coming'..... then he will keep his eyes closed, and keep quiet, then he will KO eventually... but this time, my gal will tell me : mummy, you bluffed, right?
:shyxxx:

 

[Mummy to Baby V]

We've a bedtime routine: bath, milk, dim light, stories, potty + change diaper, lights out, kiss, songs. Then I'd say "night night", and pretend to sleep. He'd roll around for a while, meddle with clothes, talk to himself. I'd tell him to "shh!" and sleep.

If tired, he can fall asleep quite soon.

Otherwise, I'd warn him that kid who doesn't want to sleep goes to the "time-out corner".
Several times, he gets sent to the corner and he knows I'm serious about bedtime.
Then becomes more cooperative when I warn him nowadays.

 

[apollo]

yes a bedtime routine is very impt. dont wait until ur child is tired den send him to the bedroom. nowadays ds will auto push us to take his pyjamas and change him aft tt he will ask for milk. aft milk even if he dun wanna slp, he will just 'monkey' ard for awhile. =)

 

[sherz4628]

My gal is 6 mths old currently..current routine is off light in room, drink milk, carry and pat to slp (usually v fast like 5 min will do the trick) and then put her down on mattress..

The rountine shared here sounds more for toddlers. So I'd like to ask, what age do I "upgrade" the rountine with stories, songs, hugs n kisses?

 

[apollo]

if ur child and fall aslp easier, or even auto falling aslp i think dont nd any stories or songs. but i think most kids will reach this stage where they want parents to do sth b4 they slp. hahaha..

 

[Mummy to Baby V]

My gal is 6 mths old currently..current routine is off light in room, drink milk, carry and pat to slp (usually v fast like 5 min will do the trick) and then put her down on mattress..

The rountine shared here sounds more for toddlers. So I'd like to ask, what age do I "upgrade" the rountine with stories, songs, hugs n kisses?

Anytime you prefer. We've doing bedtime stories and songs since my pregnancy days, just for some bonding time before sleep. It's fine to do without too.

 

[Ting]

My gal is 6 mths old currently..current routine is off light in room, drink milk, carry and pat to slp (usually v fast like 5 min will do the trick) and then put her down on mattress..

The rountine shared here sounds more for toddlers. So I'd like to ask, what age do I "upgrade" the rountine with stories, songs, hugs n kisses?

if your child doesnt need stories, songs, hugs n kisses to fall aslp, then u can leave that out. BUT, u can include them in if u want, its optional.

 

[littlehelper]

If she can KO easily now, might as well start early!
Take away the carrying part,once she grows older it will be really tiring carrying her especially if she refuses to sleep.
Now just carry on with your usual routine, pat her and then leave her to sleep.
The earlier you start, the easier it will be in future

My gal is 6 mths old currently..current routine is off light in room, drink milk, carry and pat to slp (usually v fast like 5 min will do the trick) and then put her down on mattress..

The rountine shared here sounds more for toddlers. So I'd like to ask, what age do I "upgrade" the rountine with stories, songs, hugs n kisses?

 

[sherz4628]

If she can KO easily now, might as well start early!
Take away the carrying part,once she grows older it will be really tiring carrying her especially if she refuses to sleep.
Now just carry on with your usual routine, pat her and then leave her to sleep.
The earlier you start, the easier it will be in future

Well, I'd love to take away the carrying part too..but whenever I put her down without carrying first, the notty gal will jus flip on her tummy and refuse to lie down properly.. I gotta flip her back..press her head down..and all the stuff which by then makes her super cranky and awake.. I can only put her down after I carry and pat till she drowsy and close her eyes..

Sign..any solutions?

 

[meiteoh]

anyone's toddler can sleep in the room by themselves, without parent accompanying? really wonder how to transit to make it happen... :err:

You need to start young, be very patient and have a bedtime routine (and stick to it religiously).

Eva sleeps on her own and is always in bed by 830pm or 9pm latest. We'll bath her, change her and then either sing a lullaby and ask her to look for her soft toy. Once she finds us, I'll get her to turn off the light, give her a smooch, play some music on her Violet before putting her down and wishing her good night. Since she turned 15 mths old, she'd wave bye bye at us at night when we say goodnight to her.

When she was younger, our bedtime routine was basically music (either mp3 or lullaby), some carrying and then just put her to sleep - we'd have a night light turned on because she doesn't like the dark (still use it actually). During teething periods, we'd rest in the room with her but no lights and no talking/playing. When she has dozed off (after a few minutes), we'd sneak out quietly.

I took away the carrying when she was around 6-7 mths old - what helped was her soft toy (Ba Ba) (would show her the toy, say "Good night, Ba Ba", etc, but interestingly, it was only around 14 mths did she start wanting to carry Ba Ba (look for him per se) before she goes to the crib.

I never really did the patting religiously - don't quite like the idea because I know she'd get used to it and want to be patted to bed at night every day (and I don't have the time to pat her until she falls off to sleep). My mum likes to do it whenever she comes and in the beginning, it was hell for us when she left because Eva would want to be patted (how to eat/cook dinner, clean the place and rest?) and so forth. So I drew the line - no patting at night.