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Any sleep advice? (slrpnk.net)

submitted 1 week ago by oeuf@slrpnk.net to c/parenting@lemmy.world

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Can anyone offer some advice on getting an 18-month-old to sleep at night?

Until now the three techniques we've had are 1) feeding to sleep on the boob, 2) walking to sleep in the sling and 3) falling asleep in the car. Number 3 is only good for naps in the daytime, number 2 is getting difficult as our kid is getting big and heavy (and is a PITA at night anyway, and number 1 is starting to become less reliable/effective.

What have you learnt about getting kids (particularly this age, if relevant) to sleep?

Many thanks!

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[–] dream_weasel@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 week ago

I seem to remember a not very fun regression for both my kids around that time.

We used one of these from basically infant:

https://a.co/d/cW41YpQ

Sit in a comfy chair and bounce the kid until they pass out. Wait about 5 minutes to get solidly asleep, then transplant. One kid liked to have her brains scrambled with a pretty hard bounce, my son preferred a faster and shallower bounce.

We went back and forth between that and just holding kids across our lap in the rocking chair until one of the positions knocked them out.

Once they switched to toddler bed it was a simple matter of sitting by the bed and repeatedly laying them down until they got the point of bedtime. Consistency really matters though, every time you fight and fight and give in, the next time they fight even longer.

Last bit of advice where I differ from my wife:

If sleep isnt working, don't force it. You'll be an hour and a half into MAKING the kid go to sleep at 7p or 8p. Instead I prefer the same approach I used for my own sleep hygiene. If it isnt working in 20 minutes or half an hour but the time is not just an active yelling fight, go back to some quiet activities outside the bedroom for 15 or 20 mins and then try again. You can control when a kid wakes up, but you can't force them to fall asleep.