by Jessica Sherry

Created on: February 16, 2007   Last Updated: April 25, 2007

Getting a child to follow a sleep schedule is an ongoing process of trial and error. For young children, adequate sleep is crucial. For a parent's sanity, getting children to sleep is vital. So, how do you get your children on a routine that works? Firstly, you must be consistent. Establish a reasonable bed time, and stick to it. I have a nine-year-old boy who is in bed by 8:30. He begins the bedtime process at 8:00, which includes taking his shower, brushing his teeth, and reading a book. By 9:00, he's in dreamland.

Of course, it wasn't always this way. When he was a baby, getting him to sleep was a nightmare. We tried everything. Stories. Music. Singing to him. We would sit by the crib while he cried, waiting for him to fall asleep so we could sneak out. Sadly, this night time horror lasted throughout his toddler-hood. It wasn't until he was older that we were able to get a routine that didn't involve hours of time and frustration. For him, it all rested with a pattern of events leading up to bed. Bath. Story. Prayers. Sleep. Children love structure and once the routine was set, it was ideal.

When we had our second child, we vowed to be smarter. She was a terrible sleeper in infancy. A normal baby is supposed to sleep around fifteen hours a day. She slept eight on a good day. This lasted for several months until I decided to go with the Ferber method of sleep. In this method, you simply put the child in her crib for naptime, and let her cry to sleep, checking on her every fifteen minutes or so to make sure she is okay. When we first tried it, it was awful. I couldn't stand hearing my baby cry for so long without running to her. But, I stuck with it, and after a week, it worked. Now, she is so accustomed to her schedule that I simply lay her down at the right time and she goes to sleep without crying or fussing. She sleeps through the night, and she gets all the sleep recommended by doctors.

Getting into a routine is difficult, especially when you're still figuring out what that routine is. But, once you provide the structure for your kids, the benefits are tremendous.

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