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Why does my child not want to sleep or have trouble falling asleep?
The blockage of the child in front of his bed can have many explanations, and these are sometimes of our responsibility, as parent. Indeed, back home after a day of work, we often feel guilty for having little time to devote to our children, to impose a permanent race against the clock, not to play with them any more… Reasons which may prevent us from showing ourselves as firm as we should when the fateful bedtime approaches. Our reluctance can have several underlying reasons according to psychologists, such as bad childhood memories or worries within the parental couple. The crying of our child can indeed echo those that we said at his age and thus feed the fear of traumatizing him by leaving him in his bed.
In addition, dotted nights can sometimes avoid asking questions about your relationship. After a birth, the sexuality of the parents can experience a drop in rate: fatigue, lack of desire … And a child who slips into our bed every night can casually break an intimacy that becomes from time to time delicate … even burdensome. In any case, starting a conversation with all family members rarely makes the situation worse.
How do I put my 1, 2 or 3 year old daughter or son to sleep?
Once bad habits well installed, difficult to disentangle. Our child clings to his refusal to go to bed or suffers from multiple nocturnal awakenings, to the detriment of his health and well-being. Fortunately, sometimes it doesn’t take much to reconnect with quieter nights, for us and our little ones.
Set up a bedtime ritual to fall asleep
At bedtime, make sure you agree on the ritual which will accompany our child to sleep: brushing teeth, pee, history, hug… But beware, beyond half an hour, the ritual risks becoming a pretext to delay the separation.
Try 5-10-15
We can also try to gradually delay the time to respond to crying : allow two or three minutes to pass before moving to his room, the next time five, then seven… This is the 5 – 10 – 15 method.
Dare to refuse the end of the night out of bed
The same goes for nocturnal excursions, if our baby feels that he is hitting a solid limit and that we are at ease, he will end up more easily giving it up. It is worth the effort to make our child more rested, and sleeping well is absolutely essential for his development.
Do not hesitate to consult when the seizures at bedtime last up to 2 or 3 years
Hand over the sleep train on its tracks is easily done when the troubles are due to bad habits. But if establishing a little firmer rules does not solve anything, if the child seems sad and anxious, do not hesitate to discuss this subject with his pediatrician or any childcare professional. Our child’s difficulty sleeping can be a symptom of a deeper discomfort, which needs to be heard and sometimes taken care of as part of a therapy.