Children will often sleep together with their parents or even siblings, which is called co-sleeping or bed sharing. This can occur for long periods of time; months or even years. To date, the research is not clear on the physical and psychological effects of co-sleeping with toddler and pre-school aged children. As a parent, if you make the decision to transition your child to their own bed after they have shared your bed, you may find it useful to identify tools to help your child adjust to sleeping on their own.
Effects on families
Co-sleeping can be a positive, bonding experience and can help alleviate any stress that the child may experience if they wake up during the night. However, there can be some potential negative effects to consider. It can lead to poor sleep quality for the parent and/or the child and there may be more instances of interrupted sleep. It can also delay the child’s ability to self soothe and fall asleep independently. Parental intimacy may also be compromised by co-sleeping, which may have a detrimental effect on a couple’s relationship.
Supporting your child to sleep alone
It is important to ensure that your child is aware of what the new bedtime rules will be and what is expected of them. The rules provide predictability, control, and security for your child so that they know exactly what to expect at bedtime. Below are some general tips that you can implement to help your child sleep alone:
- Establish a relaxing, calm bedtime routine the provides your child with the signal that it’s time to wind down for the day. Remember to avoid electronic devices for 1 hour prior to bedtime as the blue light from these devices can make your child’s brain think that it’s daytime.
- Have a plan to support the transition to independent sleeping including a date that this will start and ensure that all of the caregivers are aware and on board with the plan.
- Once your child is in their bed, they should stay in their bed for the entire night without getting up.
- Implement a “check in” routine to reassure your child you will regularly check on them until they fall asleep without responding to calling out or yelling.
How can we help?
Working with you and your child, we can help to understand the individual difficulties that your child is facing and work together to develop a plan to address these.
