The causes and remedies you need to know
Consider giving your child a small pad or handkerchief with a drop of lavender oil on it to keep beside their pillow, in case they wake up in the night.
As covered earlier, the best way for a child to feel appreciated is to reward them. Make sure that your child is regularly rewarded for sleeping well.
Click here to read about some incredible sleepy wildlife moments!
A child can be greatly reassured by having a stuffed animal by their side. They may feel scared in the night if they wake up unexpectedly.
At some point, your child will learn all about their body clock. Experiment with allowing them an alarm clock to see if this works well for them.
If your child feels like they are missing out on something by going to bed while you are still awake, you can stop this by being very boring with them at night!
Let them know that you are proud, and tell your child that they will also be proud of themselves for being able to sleep well.
A bit of encouragement can go a long way. Let your child know that you believe they can do it. This may be enough to produce great results!
Like with yoga, you can never be too young to learn meditation. Anything that teaches mindfulness and calmness has to be good!
Explain to them that waking up in the middle of the night is perfectly normal and nothing to be scared of, and that they can return to sleep right after.
Two great examples of this are 'Indigo Dreams' by Lori Lite and 'Magical Meditations for Superheroes' by Marneta Viegas.
Through a combination of techniques, whether that is meditation, breathing exercises, or visualization, give your child the choice of what works best for them.
Be there with your child before they fall asleep. Teach them how to relax, and before you know it they will fall asleep!
If your child is aware of how calm music can affect their mentality, they may utilize it at certain moments to enable easy sleep.
Everyone should be aware of how their own breathing works, and how closely linked this is to relaxation. Teach this from a young age.
Try to minimize the amount of time your child is in their bedroom, other than for sleeping. This should make the association between their bedroom and sleep very strong.
Allowing some fresh air to get into their room should keep the air quality in a good state, as well as ensure that the room's odor doesn't become unpleasant.
Make sure that your child is not disturbed by activity from other areas of your house, as this could seriously disrupt their sleep.
A temperature of 18°C (64°F) is perfect for sleep. Try to ensure that your child is neither too cold nor too warm at night.
You are never too young to start doing yoga! Get your child to attend classes from a young age. This will help with relaxation, and thereby sleep.
Decorating your child's bedroom with neutral colors will have more of a calming effect, and should help them achieve a solid night's sleep.
Some people believe that sleeping facing towards the south is better. Either way, make sure your child is happy with the arrangement.
Some children will prefer complete darkness. Others will work better with a night light. Try to figure out which is best for your child.
Consider feeding your child whole grain bread and cereals, beans, nuts, green leafy vegetables, whole milk, peanut butter, bananas, raisins, corn, oatmeal, and low-fat yogurt.
Children like to be reminded of you. Perhaps you can lend them a pillow that smells like you (maybe one that has been sprayed with your perfume or cologne).
A warm bath will naturally put a child into a state of relaxation. Adding some lavender or camomile oil can only help further.
If sleep is becoming a real issue, consider allowing your child to take a natural remedy to assist them in sleeping.
Not only could they potentially use it to watch highly unsuitable content, it could also be disastrous for their sleep routine.
Cola and chocolate contain caffeine. Therefore they are best avoided for at least a few hours before sleeping.
The brightness and sounds from devices can be very disruptive to sleep. Make sure your child does not use them in bed.
Telling your child that you are pleased with them just before they go to bed will put them in a nice and calm frame of mind for sleep.
There are so many reasons why being affectionate with your child is important, one of which is because if they feel happy and loved, they are more likely to be calm and sleep well.
Some great titles to read to your children include 'Goodnight Moon' by Margaret Wise Brown and 'Tell Me Something Happy Before I Go to Sleep' by Joyce Dunbar.
Either reading, or listening to an audio book in the dark, could prove useful in helping your child sleep.
Suggesting to your child that a dream catcher might take away some of their tiredness, bad dreams, etc. could be effective in keeping them calm.
If your child is worrying about something, get them to write it down before bed, and forget about it until the morning.
Children can be very rude sometimes! But they can also be quite anxious, so don't allow them to go to sleep without resolving any disputes first.
While this can be slightly adjusted on weekends, it is very important that your children get into the routine of going to bed at a regular time.
We all thrive on routine to a certain extent. Get your child into a routine, such as taking a bath, brushing their teeth, reading a story, and then going to sleep.
Especially in the last hour before going to sleep, try to get your child to be calm. Reading to them either in or out of bed is a good activity to help them unwind.
If your child is having trouble sleeping, ask them about the problems they are having, and try to help them find a solution.
If your child is ever going to be able to get back to sleep without your assistance, they will need to learn how to do it on their own.
Establish how your child feels about sleep, and whether they know what to do if either they can't manage to sleep, or if they wake up during the night.
If they do their homework within an hour or two of coming home, this will allow them to finish it before dinner, and therefore will remove any pressure from their minds.
The problem with naps is that sometimes your child may not be sufficiently tired later on.
Whether it is an alarm clock, natural light, or artificial light, allow your child to get accustomed to waking up at a specific time in the morning.
It's essential to make sure your child is sufficiently warm and comfortable to get a good night's sleep.
If your child gets out of bed and comes to find you, the technique is to restore them to their bed without much communication, if any. The idea is that, eventually, they will tire themselves out.
Children need to run around and use energy. Just make sure they don't do it just before bed, as they may take a while to calm down.
It is always relaxing to have a massage, and children are no exception. A massage before bed can tire your child out in all the right ways.
If your child is being troubled in their sleep, ask them to write down the reasons why, in case they forget by the time they wake up.
Make sure that they know how to deal with the problem, and that they feel sufficiently comfortable to ask about any concerns they may have.
Giving your child some warm milk before bed could be very useful in helping them to relax before they sleep.
It's better for digestion to take place fully before bedtime. Therefore, make sure you have dinner early with your child.
Just some water with a few drops of camomile extract will suffice. This will not have much more than a placebo effect, but if your child believes it will work, it may well do so!
Anything that will make your child sleep better naturally can only be a good thing. Camomile tea can have this effect.
Not only is this great for their general health, it can also help them sleep better. Providing a child with a healthy diet is very important.
Keeping a drink by your child's bedside will mean that they won't need to get out of bed in the middle of the night if they are dehydrated.
If your child is insisting on a snack before bed, allow them to eat cereal. It contains tryptophan, which could help them sleep.
Sleep is extremely important for our health. What's more, it is especially important for kids, who need a great deal of it! Unfortunately, sometimes children have trouble sleeping for all sorts of reasons. If that's the case for the child or children in your life, take a look through this gallery to find out the best ways to help kids sleep.
Easy ways to help your child sleep
Some great tips to get them snoozing
HEALTH Snooze
Sleep is extremely important for our health. What's more, it is especially important for kids, who need a great deal of it! Unfortunately, sometimes children have trouble sleeping for all sorts of reasons. If that's the case for the child or children in your life, take a look through this gallery to find out the best ways to help kids sleep.