One of the hardest things you’ll have to do as a parent is helping your kids get used to sleeping by themselves, making them learn that it’s okay to start sleeping alone. Then, when your children are old enough to be sleeping in their own rooms at night, the transition can be difficult for both of you.
However, it’s a normal part of growing up, meaning they need to be comfortable with it. As a parent, there are things that you can do to make this easier. Let’s take a look at some of what you can do.
Kids Get Used to Sleeping by Themselves by Making Their Room a Safe Space
From a young age, you need to make sure that the bedroom your child is in is a safe one. That’s not to imply that anybody sets out to make the space unsafe. It’s more that you need to reassure your child that they are in a safe space.
It’s essential to help them decorate and make the room how they want it to feel safe. This will help a lot when nighttime rolls around, and they have to spend an extended period in the room alone. Also, it will start to form the basis by which kids get used to sleeping by themselves.
Let Them Adjust
There are no set age barriers to which kids get used to sleeping by themselves. No matter how grown-up your child is for their age or how confident they are at the idea of sleeping alone, expecting them to just get on with it on the first night with no problems is unrealistic.
It’s better to have an adjustment period, which they can use to get used to sleeping alone. You start by encouraging the kids to take afternoon naps in the room. Then, you let them sleep for a couple of hours in the room each night. Gradually increasing the length of time before they have to seek out you for comfort. It’s a gradual process.
Encourage Good Behaviour to Accelerate How Quickly Kids Get Used to Sleeping by Themselves
During the early stages of teaching your child to sleep by themselves, it’s worth rewarding behaviour. If they sleep through the night without needing to come and find you. Then perhaps they could get a nice treat the next day. What you need to do, essentially, is help your kids to realise that sleeping on their own is not a problem. It’s just a normal part of life.
Positive associations are often an excellent way to safeguard kids get used to sleeping by themselves.
Final Thoughts
So, when it comes to getting the best results for teaching your kids to sleep by themselves, it’s essential to try and think about how you want to approach the situation.
Ultimately, it’s a very normal part of growing up, but it can be difficult at first for both of you to adjust. That’s why you must take it slowly, be patient, and encourage kids to look at it as an exciting part of life. Don’t worry if it’s a little bit difficult at first. You would not be the first parent to have this problem, so just keep trying.