Tag Archives: sleep habits

When They Definitely do NOT “Sleep Like a Baby”

That saying, “sleep like a baby” implies that a person is sleeping quietly and deeply—lost to the world and floating in a land of sleepy dreams. As many parents realized, however, a large portion of children are NOT sweet, quiet sleepers. These noisy sleepers grunt, groan, cry out, make all sorts of noises, talk in their sleep, and some even get up and wander the house—walking in their sleep. When you are the parent of a child who is a fussy sleeper, it can keep YOU from getting a good night’s sleep. Just because a child is a noisy sleeper … Continue reading →

When Kids Have Trouble Sleeping While Away from Home

Some of us are blessed with children who can sleep anywhere—they just snuggle down and manage to tune out the world and get some good rest whether they are at home or away. Many children, however, may sleep just fine in the comfort and routine of their own home, but find that spending the night at grandma’s or staying in a hotel or any other type of away-from-home sleeping is impossible. What can a parent do when a child has a hard time sleeping when not in his or her own bed? Some of us adults have a hard time … Continue reading →

What to Do with Night Owls—Part Two

We’ve talked about kids who get up early in the morning and started to talk over some of the reasons that children might be having a hard time getting to sleep at night. If your child is just a biological night owl, however, your task as a parent may not be to change them, but to figure out how to make family life more livable for everyone in your household. For those of us who get tired or need to get up and head off to school or work in the morning, staying up with an energetic night owl is … Continue reading →

What to Do with Night Owls—Part One

Earlier today, I wrote about some suggestions for adjusting to a child who likes to get up early in the morning—just a few ideas for ways to keep the child safe and entertained when he or she insists upon getting up before the rest of the household. Some of those same ideas can work for those night owls too—but often mom and/or dad are still up and trying to have a “grown-up” evening or night while the child is bouncing off the walls too. Entertaining a night owl, or trying to get him or her to settle down for the … Continue reading →

What to Do with Early Risers?

Parents of those early risers often spend a great deal of time trying to maneuver and manipulate their child’s sleep schedule to force them to sleep late. After a while, many of us give up and learn to accept and adjust to the various sleep schedules in our homes. Instead of trying to change those early morning preschoolers, it might be a better idea to figure out what to do with them to keep them safe and get the morning off to a good start… I just want to clarify that I am not talking so much about babies here. … Continue reading →

Coping with Midnight Bed Sneakers

I was asked a question by a working mom of three young school-age kids. She wanted to know how she could get her kids to stop “sneaking” into her bed at night. As she explained it, she is such a hard sleeper that when her kids come in, complaining of nightmares or other fears, she is not coherent enough to send them back to their own beds and often doesn’t even realize they are there until she wakes up in the morning. I could definitely relate as my son was one of those midnight sneakers—sometime in the dead of the … Continue reading →

My Baby Won’t Sleep Through the Night

Is your baby having trouble sleeping through the night? I know lots of moms who struggle with just this problem and I hear a lot of conflicting stories and tales about what to do and what not to do and how to help your baby make this adjustment. There’s a joke told around my family that for my husband, my daughter slept through the night, but I knew better – she woke up once a night for many months – I think she finally broke that habit around the age of 14 or 15 months. So, your baby won’t sleep … Continue reading →