Learning To Sleep: Sleep Between 2 And 5 Years Old
As parents, we are primarily responsible for teaching our children to learn to sleep. Once out of Mom’s belly, rest isn’t the same.
The quality of sleep directly affects our children’s health. Therefore, it is important to take care and pay attention. Also, as the saying goes, “the more you sleep, the more it grows”.
From the age of two, your child’s sleep habits will change compared to when he was just a few weeks old.
Therefore, it is necessary to create the right environment and the right conditions for the child to learn to sleep.
At this age, children tend to sleep about 13 hours a day. Then, from age three to five, children begin to sleep about ten hours a day.
What does changing sleep habits mean for my child? Very simple.
In this age group, it is possible that children wake up at night for one reason or another. However, this tends to happen less and less and for shorter periods, usually for about 20 minutes.
Learning to sleep will take some time, but if we know how to teach them, it will be to everyone’s advantage.
Remember: sleep patterns must adjust by the time your child is ten years old.
Learning to sleep has its stages.
When the child learns to speak, he can communicate better and say what he feels or needs when he wakes up at night.
It is precisely at this stage that it is so necessary to reinforce the routine. For the child, learning to sleep will take time.
Meet their needs and try to help the child to reach the ideal conditions to be able to rest well. Up to 5 years of age, it is very likely that she still needs her parents’ help to get to sleep.
It is perfectly normal for a child to ask for things when he wakes up during the night. According to experts, when this happens it is recommended that you show that she can sleep alone and that nothing bad will happen.
Explain that she needs to sleep well so she can recharge for play the next day.
Avoid creating a tense environment as much as possible. Also avoid punishing or scolding the child if he or she wakes up late at night. That kind of attitude will only make the situation worse.
Up to 5 years of age, children will still want to take a one-hour afternoon nap. These naps shouldn’t be too long and they shouldn’t be too late for the child to be able to sleep at night without difficulty.
We must teach them to sleep
Establish and adhere to a routine to achieve a stable sleep pattern. It is very important that the child goes to bed and gets up at the same time every day.
It is also good to prevent your child from going to bed hungry or drinking too much fluid before going to bed, as they may wake up at night wanting to eat or go to the bathroom.
The bedtime routine can include relaxing activities. This routine might include taking a shower, reading a story, or even singing a song. It is also good to show positive gestures for the child.
Explain that you will always be around and that you will always look after her well-being. That way, she will understand and deal better with the feeling of separation.
It is essential that children do not associate bedtime as a punishment.
Although it’s a traditional custom, it’s not good to say that the boogeyman will catch on if your child doesn’t go to bed soon. Instead of helping you, it can hurt because that kind of story conveys fear.
what not to do
Many parents take their children to bed when they are exhausted, even trying to tire them out more if they see they are still very active.
However, this can have the opposite effect. Unintentionally, they end up stimulating the child more instead of making him tired.
Avoid using electronic devices before going to bed, such as television, tablets, cell phones, video games or any other device that emits artificial light. The light from these devices makes it difficult for both children and adults to sleep.
Learning to sleep can be easy if we know how to be consistent, patient, and consistent with our routine. Of course, love cannot be lacking either when teaching our children all this.
