How To Help Your Child Learn To Sleep Alone

Putting children to sleep alone is a concern for mothers. You can refer to these ways to train your baby to sleep alone. When moving from a crib to a bed, babies are often not used to it or toss and turn. Sometimes they even cry and scream.

American pediatricians said that to help children fall asleep on their own, there needs to be a method. These are the ways they advise couples with young children.

Train Your Baby To Lie On His Own During The Day

You can make it a habit for your child to sleep alone during the day by putting them in pajamas, letting them brush their teeth, and reading them stories, etc. just like before going to bed at night. Don’t forget to praise your child when they’re alone in bed, treat this as a fun game, don’t make them think it’s a mandatory rule.

You can play a small game with your child, in which you are a child and your child is the parent. Then you bring a teddy bear to bed. Here’s how you can start putting your baby to sleep with a favorite toy. Your child will feel excited when it’s time for bed.

Increase The Time Your Child Spends In Bed Alone

First, you need to find out how long it usually takes your child to fall asleep after turning off the lights. You can easily spot this if you’re with your baby before he sleeps. Of course, this technique takes a lot of energy and patience. Do this exercise a few times a week during the day. The more often you practice like this, the more effective it will be.

Then apply the following training measures:

1/ Create habits such as Brushing teeth and wearing pajamas. Say you love your child and it’s time for bed.

Example: When you turn off the lights at 8 pm and your baby takes 15 minutes to fall asleep. At 8:10 p.m., tell your child that he needs to rest. Then, leave the room and promise that you’ll be back soon.

You return to the room after a minute and start praising your child. Compliments help children feel like they’ve won a big prize. You can say things like: “You did very well”, “You are very good”. Then lie down next to your child until he falls asleep.

2/ Repeat the same thing the next night but leave the room for 2 minutes and the third night for 3 minutes. The amount of time your child can spend alone at night will slowly increase.

You can stop doing this once your baby has slept independently for a week.

Use The “I’m sorry” Method

Pediatricians say this method is especially effective for children who tend to cry or sit up when you leave, even if it’s just for a minute. You need to put your baby to bed and say “Good night”. Then you turn off the lights and leave the bedroom for a moment with the promise: “I’m sorry, I’ll be right back, baby, because I need to turn off the television” or “I’m sorry honey, I’ll be right back”, to do something, etc.”.

You stay out of the room for 30-60 seconds. Note that the time depends on how long your child can be in bed alone. Now, go back to the bedroom and tell your child nice words to make them feel that being in bed alone is a big accomplishment.

You step out again in a very short time. The first night you may need to do this move 20-30 times. The second night, just increase the amount of time you are away from the room. Just like that, in a week, you will see amazing results.