How to Improve Sleep for Baby and Toddler Without Formal Sleep Training

Sleep is discussed often in play groups, doctors appointment, friends, our own families and tends to be a passionate dialogue of whether to sleep train or not.  Each family makes the decision that is best for their family and sleep training is 100 percent an option! With a solid plan, it changes the patterns and behaviors that are in not sustainable currently to ones that are sustainable for a family. If sleep training is not an option that you want to pursue for your family, does that mean we can’t improve sleep? No! Babies can improve sleep with thoughtful routines, an ideal sleep environment, and developmentally appropriate expectations.

How to improve sleep

When we talk about improving baby and toddler sleep, what we really mean is building sleep pressure for sleep, creating predictable patterns that work for your family, and setting up conditions that invites sleep into the equation. We focus on building predictability, foundations for sleep, and giving your child every opportunity to try to fall asleep.

Start With a Sleep Friendly Environment

Think of your baby and toddler's sleep space as the foundation. Even if everything else goes sideways, a consistent and solid sleep environment can make falling asleep easier.

• A Dark Room Helps Everyone Sleep Better

Newborns typically nap in brighter spaces to help with sorting out day and night confusion, but as babies sleep mature, light becomes a powerful cue and affects the quality of sleep. We want the room to be cave like dark to help cue the brain to sleep during the day and help with Melatonin production at night. Recommend adding blackout curtain and/or shades to the windows in their room.

• Sound Machine

It cues sleep and creates a consistent sound to help mask environment noises (dog barking, sibling playing, lawnmower during the day, etc). There are many benefits to sound machines and options (white, pink and brown to name a few). Recommend using it during the day for naps and at night.

• Temperature

Most babies and toddlers sleep best in 68 to 72°F. Typically, when it gets too warm/too cool babies sleep tends to be more restless, wake earlier in the morning land/or have a harder time falling back asleep.

Create Predictability With a Simple Routine

Keep it simple. Babies learn patterns through repetition, and routines help them understand that sleep is coming.

 A sample bedtime routine:

• Bath

• Diaper

• Pajamas

• Feed

• Brief wind down (song, cuddle, quick book)

• Lights off

•  Into sleep space (crib, pack n play, etc)

Consistency is more important than perfection. A routine helps cues sleep and babies tend to settle faster and stay asleep longer with them.

Watch Wake Windows

One of the biggest drivers of better sleep is building the sleep pressure for a child to be tired enough to fall asleep. A baby who is undertired will resist settling, take a long time to fall asleep or have a short nap. A baby who is overtired may cry more, wake frequently, or take short naps. Wake windows give you a starting point and you can flex them based on your child’s cues. When sleep pressure is just right, babies tend to settle faster, fall asleep with less help, stay asleep longer and wake less overnight.

Watch for Sleep Cues

Your baby’s cues are communication and are important to guide us on when to lay them down while using the age appropriate wake windows.

• Getting Tired: Zoned out, looking away, slower movements

• Tired: Red eyebrows, yawning consistently, fussing, hiccupping, rubbing face/hair

• Overtired: Arching back, crying hard, hard to settle

If you see cues popping up way earlier than the wake window “suggests,” try to change rooms or go outside in natural light briefly to see if they perk up (babies get bored too!). If we still see cues, trust your baby over the chart every time.

Practice “The Pause”

This is one of the most underrated tools for supporting consolidated sleep. When baby or toddler wakes and is quiet, grunting, rolling around, brief call outs, "pause" and observe for a few minutes to see if they will connect to next cycle.  Also, this “Pause” window helps us to determine are they actually awake, transitioning between cycles or settling on their own. Babies often make noise while sleeping. and jumping in immediately can accidentally disrupt the process or even wake them from active sleep.

If your baby starts to fuss or gets upset, that’s your cue to provide the level of comfort that feels right for your family. Over time, this practice of giving them a few minutes helps build the skills of settling.

If we feel that we have tried some of the items below and sleep feels unsustainable for your family, let's schedule our Discovery Call to chat through the process, answer any questions you have and so that I can get more information on what is happening sleep wise.

Sleep well!