sleeping through the night

Sleeping through the night

How do I get my little one to be sleeping through the night easily is a common question I get asked about.
Often it is from tired, frustrated and exhausted parents who want to give their little one what they need but are struggling to cope with broken sleep.

The answer is not as straight forward as you may think, however it is so very common.   The age of your baby or toddler is the biggest deciding factor.

For young babies, perhaps until about 6 months of age at least, it is quite normal and common to be waking at least once during the night for a feed.  If your baby is older and still skulling a whole bottle in the night, then your baby probably still needs a feed overnight and while that is a need, it is unrealistic generally to try to manage anything differently or to expect anything different.

Unfortunately it is an individual timeframe as to when your little one can manage sleeping through the night.  Even when they are getting plenty of solids during the day, sometimes it may take a while for them to stretch through the night.

Patience again is a virtue when it comes to night sleep.

An important factor, is to get your little one into bed in the evening at a time when he or she is not over tired.  This may be earlier than you think.

In my experience, most little ones who wake frequently at night just need to go to bed a little earlier. Frequent night waking is often a sign of not getting enough sleep.

The quality of day sleep can also affect night sleep. Again if your little one is getting poor day sleep, it may affect your little ones’ ability for sleeping through the night.