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Night waking in toddlers - how much is too much?

Dr Pamela Douglas4th of Oct 202323rd of May 2024

dark skinned woman with nose piercing holds her sleeping child as it sleeps in bed

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.

If your toddler is waking every hour or more in the night, this is excessive night waking. Using The Possums Sleep Program can help your toddler return to patterns of normal night waking, though it might take a couple of weeks.

There are some simple steps you can try coming up.

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.

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Toddlers' body clock

toddler's hand and arm

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.

Sleep (for all humans) is controlled by

  • The body clock or circadian clock

  • Sleep pressure

Your toddler's body clock is set by daylight and activity. It tells your child's body when it is night and day - when it is time to be sleep or be awake. There are many ways of keeping your toddler's body clock in sync with yours.

  • One way is by having your toddler nap in the middle of lots of daylight noise and activity during the day.

    ...

more articles in possums sleep 101 (brief & simple)

  • 3

    minute
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    Introduction to this brief & simple section of the Possums Toddler Sleep Program
  • 2

    minute
    read

    Key things to know about toddlers' sleep
  • 2

    minute
    read

    How much sleep does your toddler need?
  • 2

    minute
    read

    Is it normal for toddlers to wake in the night?
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