Getting a good night's sleep is important for everyone but especially children. A child that is not well rested will be irritable and cranky the next day creating a cycle that is often hard to break.

In the beginning

As a mother of 3 boys under the age of 5, I know a lot about sleepless night. I read every book available when it came to helping my children sleep. The first thing you are supposed to is put your baby to bed when he or she is drowsy but not asleep. That approach never quite worked for me.

The next bit of advice was to try the cry it out method. I did try it with my first child and swore of that method immediately. I just couldn't bear to put my baby through that, not even for some much needed sleep.

Toddler Time

My children became toddlers things changed in lots of ways. This is when my children wanted me to start laying down with them to give them comfort and security while they drifted off to sleep. Not a great plan to follow. The best way to get your children to sleep through the night is to get them to fall asleep on their own at bedtime.

This age is a great time to start a bedtime routine, if you don't already have one. The routine doesn't have to be complicated or elaborate, just the same every night. Such as, give them a bath, snuggle up and read a book, then tuck them in bed. Now of course they won't just fall asleep and your night will be blissful. It takes time for them to learn to get to sleep on their own. You may need to make several trips to their bedside to reassure them or to even put them back in the bed. But with lots of preservarence you will get them to doze off eventually.

The Truth

This is the part that most don't want to hear. Some kid just don't sleep through the night until they are much older. There are lots of reasons for this such as, teething, ear problems, excitement over learning new things, etc.. For one of my children, he is just a very light sleeper. Any small or unusual noise will cause him to wake up. Sometimes he will go back to sleep but other times he needs a little help from me to settle back down. The bottom line is while you can do or try every piece of advice that you recieve, a peacful night's sleep is up to your child.