Sleeping Through the Night

Many parents have to deal with waking children during the middle of the night. Regardless of the child's age, teaching him to rest during nighttime sleeping hours is one of the most important skills you can pass onto your child. Adequate sleep is important to:

proper growth and development
heart health
immune system health
learning
memory function.

Occasionally, getting your child to sleep through the night means helping him overcome issues, such as separation anxiety, fear of the dark, nightmares, strange noises and other complaints.

Sleeping Hours

Children require different amounts of sleep, depending their ages. Taking into account your child's special needs, consider these general guidelines:

infants: up to sixteen hours of sleep
babies and Toddlers, six months to three years: ten to fourteen hours of sleep
children, age three to six: ten to twelve hours of sleep
children, age six to nine: ten hours of sleep
children, age nine to twelve: nine hours of sleep
teenagers: nine hours of sleep.

Infants

Here are some tips for helping your infant sleep through the night:

Create a quiet, consistent, comforting nighttime ritual with your baby. Bedtime routines can include a warm bath, singing to your baby, rocking him back and forth, reading to him or cuddling.
Feed your baby his last feeding of the night shortly before bedtime. If he wakes up for another feeding during the night, keep the room as dark as possible and provide only the necessary interaction. Unnecessary interaction will prevent him from being able to fall back asleep.
Lay the baby down in the crib before he is deeply asleep. This will teach him to fall asleep on his own.
Put a fresh diaper on the baby before putting him to sleep. This may prevent unexpected middle-of-the-night diaper changes.

Children

To help children fall and stay asleep, try the following:

Allow your child to have some creative freedom in decorating his room. Let him choose the colors and fabrics that he finds inviting or soothing. This is particularly important when choosing bedding. Letting your child decorate his room allows him to create an environment that he enjoys spending time in, even at bedtime.
Ask your child to use the bathroom before going to bed each night. Ideally, this will prevent excuses to get up during the night.
Avoid lying down in bed with your child for extended periods. This prevents your child from expecting you to sleep with him every night.
Develop a soothing nighttime ritual that includes time to wind down from the day's activities while sharing special time with a family member. This allows him to adjust gradually transition into night.
Offer positive reinforcement and encouragement when your child follows your nighttime rules. Let him know that you are proud of his efforts.
Remove the television from your child's room and restrict television viewing prior to bedtime. Research suggests that television is a stimulant for children, often creating problems falling asleep.

Resources

About.com (2007). Bedtime Habits. Retrieved January 17, 2007, from the About.com Web site: http://adam.about.com/encyclopedia/002392.htm.

About.com (2007). Rockabye Baby, Your Momma Needs Sleep. Retrieved January 17, 2007, from the About.com Web site: http://sleepdisorders.about.com/cs/sleepdeprivation/a/

rockabye_4.htm.

Helpguide (2007). Getting the Sleep You Need. Retrieved January 17, 2007, from the Helpguide Web site: http://www.helpguide.org/life/sleeping.htm.

McClure, Robin (2007). Sweet Dreams! How to Get Your Child to Stay in Bed at Night. Retrieved January 17, 2007, from the About.com Web site: http://childcare.about.com/od/behaviors/qt/stayinbed.htm.