How to

Tips to Help Your Child Sleep Alone

Are you struggling to get your child to sleep in their own bed? It can be a challenge, as most children resist sleeping alone despite your best efforts. However, with patience and observation, you can find the most effective method for your child. Remember, every child is different, so it's important to approach this matter objectively and choose a suitable approach based on their individual needs and preferences.

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15 December, 2023

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Today meohay.vn has compiled methods to help children sleep by themselves, parents should refer to these ways to train their children to sleep by themselves below.

Brushing teeth before bedtime

You tell your child that it’s time to go to bed, let’s brush our teeth. But not every child listens to you, so how to convince them to follow the daily tooth brushing habit, so that they are aware of doing it themselves without needing your daily reminders? Here are a few “tricks” for you:

Set an example

“Seeing is believing,” no matter how much theory you talk about, it’s hard for a child to absorb it without seeing it firsthand. To do this, you and those around you must set an example for the child.

Let the child choose toothpaste and brush their teeth

This makes children more excited about brushing their teeth. Take your child to the store and let them choose their own toothpaste and toothbrush.

Make tooth brushing a game for the child

Another way to motivate children to brush their teeth is to have them participate in a tooth brushing challenge, such as Big Tooth and Little Tooth. When participating in this 21-day challenge, children will listen to interesting adventure stories before going to bed. Thanks to that, brushing teeth is no longer a boring task for them.

Create the habit of brushing teeth before sleeping for children

The habit of turning off the lights at 9 pm for the whole family

It is not easy for adults to follow their children’s sleeping schedule. If parents want to watch TV shows or something and tell their child to go to bed early, the child may not listen and comply.

Therefore, the whole family must create a habit of arranging all tasks and going to bed at the same designated time.

For example: When you turn off the light at 9 pm and it takes your child 15 minutes to fall asleep. At 9 pm, you tell your child that it is time to go to bed, then you leave the child alone in the room and you leave the room and promise to come back soon.

You return to the room after a minute and start praising your child. Compliments make the child feel like they have won a great reward.

You can say things like: “You did very well”, “You’re very good” … Then, you lie down next to them until they fall asleep.

Create the habit of turning off the lights and going to bed on time

– Repeat the bedtime routine

Repeat the same thing the next night but leave the room for 2 minutes and the third night for 3 minutes. The time that your child can stay alone at night will gradually increase.

You can stop doing this when your child can sleep independently for a week.

Always say goodnight to your child

Pediatricians say that this method is particularly effective for children who tend to cry or sit up and play when you leave, even for just a minute.

You need to put your child to bed and say “Goodnight”. Then, turn off the light and leave the bedroom for a moment with a promise: “Mommy apologizes, mommy will come back right away, because mommy needs to turn off something or “Mommy apologizes, darling, mommy will be right back, to do something…”.

You stay outside the room for 30-60 seconds. Note: The time depends on how long your child can stay in bed alone.

Now, return to the bedroom and say some nice words to your child to make them feel that being alone in bed is a great achievement.

You step out once again for a very short time. The first night, you may need to do this motion 20-30 times. The second night, just increase the time you are absent from the room. Keep doing this for a week, and you will see great results.

– Some notes for parents

Do not let your child sleep alone too early

Parents be aware, children aged 1-5 should not sleep alone because at this age they are still too young, their bodies are still fragile, so they are often afraid to sleep alone. For children over 5 years old, train them to sleep alone using the methods mentioned above.

Let the child choose their own bedroom items

Let your child choose all the items they like, from the night light to the pillows and blankets. Because if the child has siblings to sleep together in the same room, it’s fine, but if they are the only child, they may feel scared and lonely when they sleep alone.

Therefore, let your child choose the items they like so that they don’t feel scared and can easily fall asleep.

Guide the child step by step

After decorating the room for your child, start explaining why they should sleep alone. And during this process, you must proceed slowly and step by step, depending on the child’s personality.

For small changes like changing the sleeping location, or no longer sleeping and sharing the blanket with the parent, all these new things should be guided step by step so that the child can easily adapt.

Parents must act consistently

There is no need to be too strict with your child, on the contrary, you should often go into the room and check on how the child is doing. Let the child know that even though they are sleeping alone now, they still receive love and care from their parents.

When your child cries and looks for their parents in the middle of the night, parents need to be consistent and not feel sorry for the child and let them sleep in the same room. Remember that your child’s crying will be endless and that is how they don’t want to escape from their parents’ arms.