

Gemma Caton

Health visitor.

Most toddlers wake briefly a few times each night as they move from one phase of sleep to another. The trick is to teach your toddler to settle himself back to sleep again when this happens.

If your one-year-old will only fall asleep when you're there, he'll find it hard to get back to sleep without you when he wakes in the night. A consistent bedtime routine can teach your toddler to drift off by himself.

Choose calming activities to relax your toddler for the night, such as a bath, followed by a story and a soothing lullaby. Make sure you do the same things at the same time every night so he knows what to expect.

Instead of cuddling or rocking your toddler to sleep, leave the room once you've put him down. Only go in occasionally to check on him. Establishing a bedtime routine for a toddler can take a bit longer than it does for babies, but try your best to stick with it. You'll be glad you did when your toddler finally starts sleeping through!

If teaching your toddler to soothe himself to sleep doesn't work, it's possible that something else could be disturbing his rest.

Your toddler could be too hot or too cold, or perhaps he's being woken up by lights or sounds coming in from the street. Check his bedroom for any clues to his night-waking, and do what you can to help, such as choosing lighter bedding or blackout blinds.

Another possibility is that your toddler isn't getting enough sleep. Strange as it may seem, sleep-deprivation may actually make it harder for your toddler to sleep through the night. So it's possible that an earlier bedtime could help.

Of course, too much sleep can also make it harder for your toddler to sleep through the night. If he's still having two naps, you may like to consider dropping one. Most toddlers are having a single one-and-a-half hours to two-hour nap by 18 months or so.

It can be disheartening when your toddler won't sleep through the night. But remind yourself that this is just a phase. With a bit of patience, he should soon start sleeping through the night, giving you the rest you need!

If you've tried everything and nothing seems to help, talk to your health visitor for further advice.

If your toddler used to sleep through the night, find out why he's suddenly started waking up.
Last reviewed: May 2015

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This is my 1 year old, she has never slept through and believe she has bad habits due to health issues early on between 8 - 22 weeks. Now resolved but her bedtime and night times were so disrupted during this time. unfortunately she will not sleep in her cot, she will go down in her cot AFTER she has fallen to sleep on me or the sofa and then when she wakes up she cries for me or daddy and will not self settle. She comes into bed with us as this is only way we can between us get any sleep (we both work full time too and daddy has her during the day before working nights). She wakes up without fail every morning between 04:30-06:00 - still tired and sleepy but wants to play.. and then daddy lets her go back to sleep again around 9am for a couple of hours... Just not sure how I can change this pattern for her. I am going to take a look at this link below and see if this helps. Any guidance or advice or success stories would be greatly received :-)
Hi! I learned a lot from this page it helps me to deal with daughter cant sleep straight in a long period of tme, always wake between hours

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