Nursery World - Positive Relationships: A parent's guide to ... broken nights

Broken nights. They are the bane of most parents' lives at some time or another. While you might have been ready for a 2am call when your child was a baby, you might not feel quite as prepared now that they are older. So, why do children wake in the night, and just as importantly, what should you do when this happens?

A good starting point is to understand that children, like adults, go through several sleep cycles in the night. During these cycles, there are times when they are in a very deep sleep and others when their sleep is lighter and they are likely to be dreaming.

It is at these times that they are more likely to wake up or to have nightmares or night terrors.

AVOID A DISTURBED NIGHT

Before looking at what to do if a child is waking in the night, let's look at ways in which we might actually prevent it from happening.

Some problems can be avoided by ensuring that your child is not overtired. Moving back bedtime may be all that it takes, as overtired children tend to have more disrupted sleep cycles.

Register now to continue reading

Thank you for visiting Nursery World and making use of our archive of more than 35,000 expert features, subject guides, case studies and policy updates. Why not register today and enjoy the following great benefits:

What's included