Key things to know about toddlers' sleep

This page is part of a collection of short articles called Brief & simple, which together make up a quick summary of The Possums Sleep Program in plain language. For comprehensive information and support, please go to The essentials section of The Possums Sleep Program, and begin to work your way through the program's online text and videos.

Here are few other useful things to know about toddler sleep.

• A regular get up time keeps your toddler's body clock healthy.

• Cuddling to sleep is normal for toddlers and sets up good habits of feeling loved and safe.

• It's normal for toddlers to wake in the night for a cuddle (or a breastfeed if you are breastfeeding).

• Putting toddlers in a quiet environment to encourage sleep for long periods during the day might result in patterns of excessive night waking some weeks later.

• If your toddler regularly takes a long time to go to sleep, this shows that your toddler's sleep pressure isn't high enough yet.

• Getting back to sleep in the night should be quick and easy. If your toddler is regularly awake for long periods in the night, his or her body clock needs to be reset.

We'll look at these things more closely in the coming pages. I know they might sound quite different to what you've heard! I'll explain it all, so that you can start experimenting. Usually within a couple of weeks parents say that The Possums Sleep Program has made life with their toddler so much easier.

Acknowledgements

I'm grateful to Professor Sophie Havighurst, Ros June, and Caroline Ma at Mindful, The University of Melbourne, for their feedback on the articles in the Brief & simple section of The Possums Sleep Program. They helped me keep the language plain and the concepts as accessible as possible. For comprehensive information and support, please go to The essentials section of The Possums Sleep Program, and begin to work your way through the program's online text and videos.