It isn’t uncommon for parents to allow their infants to sleep in the same room or even the same bed with them. Babies wake frequently to eat, and many parents find it easier to roll over and feed their child than get up and go to the next room to do it. While the co-sleeping solution works for many families, it can’t last forever. Unfortunately, this may prove to be more challenging than you anticipate, so here are a few helpful tips for how to teach your child to sleep alone at night.
Start Early
Generally, it’s easier to teach a 2-year-old to sleep alone than it is to teach a 5-year-old. The longer your child develops the habit of going to bed with Mom or Dad within arm’s reach, the harder it will be to break that habit.
Some experts recommend sleep training as young as 4 months old when the child is too little to crawl out of bed. If that seems too young to you, go with what feels appropriate for your family. Many parents decide to initiate sleep training when the child’s sleep behavior begins to disrupt the parents’ quality of sleep.
If you hold off on sleep training until your child is older, it isn’t the end of the world. However, you may need to be more creative to get your child to cooperate. For some older children, rewards-based systems like sticker charts and prizes can be good incentive to go to sleep on their own.
