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Understanding your child’s sleeping habits

Toddlers should be getting between 10 and 14 hours of sleep per day, but the hours of sleep can be distributed throughout the day.

Some children don't sleep during the day, they just need periods of "rest time"; others can’t do without their nap time. Most children stop napping between ages of three and four years old.

A lack of good sleep can affect children's behaviour and even their health. Here are some useful tips for helping your toddler to get enough of the right kind of sleep;

• The important thing for parents is to be able to read their child's "sleepy signals" to know when a nap or bedtime is needed.
• Try and avoid letting your child become over-tired, as this often makes it more difficult for her to settle down and fall asleep.
• To ease the transition to sleep, develop a soothing routine for you both including: lullabies, books and rocking.
• It’s important that you put your child down while she’s still awake, otherwise she won’t get the opportunity to learn how to fall asleep on her own.
• Without the ability to soothe herself back to sleep, a child who wakes at night will always call out for you.
• Provide comforts for your child like a blanket or a stuffed animal, so she feels reassured and comforted even when you’re not there.