How to get your kid to sleep

Up to 30 per cent of children under the age of three will suffer some form of sleep disorder.

Youngsters who do not get enough sleep can suffer from behavioural problems such mood swings and even depression.

Tresillian is sleep bootcamp for tired parents and their kids.

“Sleep is so important for a child’s brain development for growth, and to have good behaviour,” a sleep expert from Tresillian said.

A common complaint from parents with kids who can’t sleep properly is ‘night walking’, a pattern which experts at Tresillian say kids can form.

Tresillian’s tips to fix night walking

A consistent bedtime routine.
A calm quiet environment to sleep.
Being persistent and patient when resettling.

“Being consistent and persistent with their routine is really important and it takes six weeks once people have come into Tresillian to continue this to have the routine set, so it’s not a quick fix,” the expert said.

Tresillian’s tips to help getting kids to sleep

Set up a bedtime routine and stick to it.
Read your child’s cues by putting them to bed before they’re exhausted.
Try playing music.

“It’s just important they have that consistency of you coming back and reassuring them, eventually that will develop into a good routine and eventually they will sleep.”

Tired parents will try anything to get their child to fall sleep, but Tresillian says parents should not fall into the trap of patting, rocking or driving your baby to sleep to create sleep associations that can become hard to break.

However, for the small percentage of children who have sleep problems that require medical treatment, experts say it is important parents do not ignore warning signs, such as snoring.

“Ninety per cent of children do not snore, so when a child snores parents should not assume it is just ‘cute’ or it is just the child and that it’s normal to snore, [because] it’s not,” the expert said.

Four-year-old Abby was a terrible sleeper and also snored, until her mother took action.

“Every morning she was in a bad mood and crying when she would wake up and really loud snoring every night,” Abby’s mum Laura said.

Enlarged tonsils blocking her airways triggered Abby’s snoring, a condition known as sleep apnoea.

Her tonsils have since been removed.

“Since the surgery, it’s been amazing, she wakes up happy, she’s got more concentration, we don’t hear her snoring and she doesn’t wake up in the middle of the night,” Laura said.