Settling oneself to sleep is a learned skill…Fact. Why is it so important for little ones to self settle to sleep? Why can’t we just do it for them until they’re ready to do it alone?
I answer this very good question in this episode of The Sleep Nanny Show.
If you think your little one is self settling at bedtime BUT you’re experiencing night wakings and struggling to get them back off to sleep, I’ll bet it has something to do with that bedtime settling and perhaps they’re not truly self settling after all.
When little ones are exhausted they might crash out with ease and give you the impression that they’re self settling when really, they’re not – There’s no skill or practice at play but rather it’s the exhaustion doing it for them.
Or maybe you’re doing it for them? Do you find you have to do something to or for your little one in order for them to go to sleep? Is there a particular thing or a bunch of things that send them off into the land of nod?
In this episode I share with you how to get your little one to self settle, happily, responsively and effectively!
If you teach a child to ride a bike, you don’t hold them up forever and leave the training wheels on indefinitely. You also wouldn’t just pop them on two wheels and expect them to ride alone right away – It takes small steps and practice and so does learning how to settle to sleep.
I share my loving approach to guiding babies and young children through the essential process of adjusting to their own sleep space, becoming at ease with being placed down for sleep and needing less and less help to actually get to sleep until they’re totally competent and can self settle happily.
When little ones can settle themselves to sleep at the onset of sleep, they can then resettle their minor wakings between sleep cycles which leads to them achieving longer and longer stretches of nourishing and restorative sleep (and for you too)!
I hope you enjoy this episode whether on the YouTube channel or the podcast and would love to hear what you found helpful in the comments below.
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