Baby Edward
Wanted his parents to sleep with him and was scared of the dark.
All 3-year-old Edward wanted was for his parents to sit by his bed at night. He was waking 3-5 times and this would end up with his parent’s sleeping next to him to help him settle. If they didn’t do this then he would wake even more.
Edward was also becoming scared of the dark and could see shapes and monsters overnight. His parents had tried lots of different approaches, having Edward share a room with his older sister, but this made little difference. They were having a hard time getting him to sleep and were struggling with what to do next. As Edward was waking up in the early part of the night, we worked together with a Twilight in-home consultation to help with bedtime and any wake up after that.
Screen time
Before bedtime Edward was having some screen time. This was contributing to his imagination running wild and being a little unsettled. We worked on some of the tips below to help him adjust:
Bedtime for Media Devices - It’s great to set a bedtime for any media devices, one or two hours before bedtime. This gives your little ones a chance to wind down and to be less stimulated when it comes to bedtime and overnight sleep.
Replace screen time - Replacing screen time with more gentle activities such as bath time, story time.
Scared of the dark
When Edward was waking, he was struggling to go back to sleep without his parents being by his side. He became scared of the dark and started imagining monsters and other scary things. We worked with Edward’s parents to chat with him during the day about these fears. Explaining that it was normal to feel these emotions. We installed a night light of warm amber tones. This gave him the feeling of being more secure and calm if and when he woke overnight.
Validate fears
Normal to feel these emotions.
Trying to find out what he is scared of.
Addressing these fears.
Night-light
This can bring them comfort.
Making them more safe and secure.
Having warm shades such as yellow and red will help soothe your little one soothe back to sleep.
As the days went on Edward became more confident and happier to sleep without his parents by his side. The wake ups were reducing and he began sleeping through the night. His parents could sleep again in their own bed and the whole family was well rested.
A well rested Edward enjoying a day out.
“We were having a hard time getting our three year old son to sleep, he was waking 3-5 times a night. Aprilla was absolutely spot on and confident with her teachings on sleep training. We saw changes very early on and in as little as a week our son was doing so well and is now sleeping through the night. We are new parents and this has changed our lives. We are so thankful and would highly recommend the lovely Aprilla.”