You’ve got this sleeping thing mastered and your tot is practically sleeping through the night. Believe it or not he probably is because “sleeping through the night” according to pediatricians is six straight hours. But just when you think it’s safe to relax your sweet baby turns into a toddler.

Toddlers don’t want to sleep. They want to explore their world and not miss a thing. However now that they aren’t sleeping all throughout the day, they need sleep now more than ever. Luckily for you toddlers and preschoolers thrive on routine. But it’s up to you to be strong and keep up the steady bedtime routine even if they try to cajole, scream, or whine their way out of it.

Here are some great bedtime routine tips to keep your child in healthy sleep habits.

Don’t over do it. In order for the routine to be effective and trigger the time to go to sleep response in your child you have to be prepared to do it every night. If your bedtime routine takes hours is that something you’re always going to be able to do? Keep it short and sweet. Fifteen to twenty minutes is sufficient enough time from pj’s to bed to get your child ready to hit the pillow. Two books before bed and a song once their tucked in is plenty.

Early to bed. Toddlers need twelve to fourteen hours of sleep a day and Preschoolers need eleven to thirteen so it’s important they get their nighttime rest. If your child isn’t getting at least ten hours at night it can make for a fussy, whiny, unpleasant day. For this age group it’s best to set the bedtime between 7 - 8pm. This way even if they fight sleep they still have enough nighttime hours to recharge their batteries.

Stay firm. Children are amazingly clever and they will do anything possible to delay the inevitable bedtime. Nip this behavior in the bud by only allowing one delay tactic after you’ve tucked them in. Otherwise they will work this tactic to death. The best way to deal with that is to give the child something tangible. I made a free pass for Three-feet-of-fun and when he gives it to me for a drink or he forgot a stuffed animal or something then he’s done.

It can be completely adorable the reasons children come up with to get out of bed. Even if it tickles your funny bone you need to be stern and follow the routine. They don’t know how important it is that they get their sleep — but you do.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 8th, 2008 at 10:07 pm and is filed under Activities, Child Development, Child Education, School and Learning, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.