by Crystal Bustamante

Created on: June 22, 2009

If you are like most parents of an infant or toddler, you may be wondering if you will ever get a full night's sleep again. While most infants will learn to sleep through the night within a few months, some young children have trouble sleeping in a crib throughout the entire night.

There are several reasons why a child may have trouble sleeping in their crib throughout the entire night. In this article, I will mention three of the most common reasons along with some simple steps that you can use to remedy the situation.

One of the most common reasons that children have difficulty sleeping through the entire night in their crib has a lot to do with the parents. Many children wake up in the middle of the night and if left alone will go back to sleep with little difficulty. However, if the child cries in the night (or in some cases, whimpers), many parents are quick to remedy whatever is wrong with "the baby".

If you find yourself in this situation, there are some simple solutions that you can implement:

* Let the child cry for a few minutes, but do not get out of bed. If nothing is wrong, the child will drift back to sleep. After a while, these late night crying spells will become less frequent or disappear all together.

* If you do need to get up to check on the child, do not turn on the light in the child's room. The light will stimulate the child and make it harder for her to go back to sleep. In the event that there is not enough light in the room, consider a small night light that can be turned on when the child goes to bed.

* While small infants may need to be fed at night, most older infants and toddlers do not. Consider keeping a sippy cup or bottle with water in the child's room at night and should the child appear thirsty in the middle of the night, you are able to quickly remedy the situation.

* Do not take the child to bed with you. This only teaches the child that if they cry enough, you will let them sleep with you.

These steps will also work when transitioning your older infant or toddler from the family bed to a crib. However, you may want to begin the process by placing the crib your bedroom where the child is accustomed to the surroundings. After they are comfortable sleeping a separate bed, you can move them to their own room.

Another common problem in getting young children to sleep in their crib throughout the entire night is that some children will climb out of their crib. For some, you may be able to adjust the crib and its furnishing to eliminate the problem. However, if you have done this and the child is still getting out of the crib, it may be an indication that it is time to invest in a toddler bed.

If you have tried the suggestions found in this article and are still having trouble or if you are having trouble getting your child to sleep in their crib for another reason that is identified here, it may be a good idea to talk to your pediatrician to ensure that there is no medical concerns that need to be addressed.

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