toddler sleep

Bedtime Changes For Sleep Anxiety

Joan Becker Friedman Baby & Child Health, Common Sleep Challenges, Nighttime Sleep, Toddler Sleep , ,
mother laying with child

“Mommy, lay with me.” 

“Can you hold my hand until I fall asleep?”

“One more hug.”

They’re the sweet bedtime murmurs of your little- or the exhausting demands of a child struggling with sleep anxiety. 

When children show sleep anxiety at bedtime (and they don’t express it during daytime hours) these manifestations- clinginess, procrastination, “one more…”- may be a sign that your child hasn’t mastered the ability to fall asleep independently. These kiddos don’t want you to leave their room because they can’t fall asleep without you. Your child stays on “high alert” each time you try to go. 

Inside your scared sleeper’s body their fears are getting in the way of their sleepiness. 

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Sleep & The Second Time Mom

Casey White Baby Sleep, Motherhood Stories and Experiences, Parenting, Toddler Sleep , , , ,
Sleep & The Second Time Mom

Before I get too far into this post, it feels important to start with: I am not a sleep consultant. I’m just a sleep consultant’s social media manager, which comes with a certain amount of knowledge, but does not in any way make me an expert. I also think it’s fair to give you a heads up- my two-year-old has never been a good sleeper and still does not sleep through the night consistently, so when we brought home our “Tiny” I was determined to do things “better” with sleep the second time around. You’re likely reading this as a parent and know that sometimes all the “better” in the world makes absolutely no difference. And yet, I, like many of you, really like sleep. So, I ventured to do better.

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Eliminating Naps for Your Preschooler

Joan Becker Friedman Common Sleep Challenges, Naps, Toddler Sleep , , ,

How do you really know when your preschooler is ready to eliminate naps? It’s the first question we have to answer as we head down this path.

While some parents feel their preschooler is ready to go without daytime sleep before the age of three, they’re just not ready before three. Sure, there may be an occasional day when “life” gets in the way and they seem to manage without a nap, but don’t let that fool you into believing they can go nap-less on a regular basis. According to the National Sleep Foundation, 50% of kids are still napping at age four and many still at five.

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Sleep Training Methods Decoded

Joan Becker Friedman Nighttime Sleep, Parenting , , , , ,

It’s 3 a.m. You’re awake. Again. Googling “sleep training methods.” Google spits back thousands of pages with dozens of methods with all kinds of crazy names that really don’t seem to make much sense. Maybe because it’s 3 a.m. Or maybe it’s the crying-is-best, crying-is-awful, somewhere-in-the-middle conflict. Plus, your co-worker, friend from high school and cousin’s wife have probably also said, “We did this. It worked for us. Try it. We know it will work for you, too!” It’s easy to get overwhelmed with information. Most parents are! How can every online sleep expert claim to have the perfect solution? How do you know what will help and what won’t?

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It May Not be The Right Time to Sleep Train… Yet

Joan Becker Friedman Baby Sleep, Common Sleep Challenges, Nighttime Sleep , ,

So, you’ve decided you and your baby are ready for sleep training! You may feel like the right time to sleep train is ASAP – before the sleepless nights drive you even crazier…

GREAT! That’s what we’re here for. But, we want to make sure when you do the work to sleep train, it sticks. Timing is everything. Sometimes finding the right time to sleep train, even if it means more wakeful nights, will allow the consistency it takes to be successful. 

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