Is it too Late to Sleep Train my Child?
Have you ever wondered if it’s too late to sleep train your child? Are they too old?
On today’s episode, we are answering this question and sharing some encouragement!
IN THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS:
Is it too late to sleep train your child?
The benefits of healthy sleep for children
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
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Is it too late to sleep train my child?
We recently received an email from a mom of a five year old asking this exact question: is it too late to sleep train my child? Here’s what this mama had to say:
“Hi Jessie and Stacey! I had a quick question for you about my five year old. She can only sleep if I sleep in her room in her bed with her. It’s been going on for so long that we ended up putting a queen bed in her room so it’s more comfortable for me. I have to go to bed with her at 8pm each night or she can’t fall asleep. If I sneak out of her room after she falls asleep, she wakes up and cries until I come back and lay with her. My husband and I really miss our time in the evenings together and neither my daughter or I sleep well sharing a bed together. Is it too late to sleep train my five year old? Sometimes I feel so discouraged and like I must have missed my opportunity, but I’m really having a hard time and can see our whole family is being effected.”
First of all, we just want to encourage you that you are not alone. We have had multiple clients with stories JUST like this. You’re not the only family who is going through something like this, but I also want to encourage you that it doesn’t have to continue this way if you’re ready for a change.
We get asked by parents of children all ages (six months to preschool age) if it’s too late to sleep train their child, and we want to yell it from the roof tops that NO, it is never ever too late to help your child develop healthier sleep habits. Your child is never too old and your situation is never too far gone or hopeless.
Many studies show sleep plays a huge role in your child’s physical, mental, and emotional well-being.
Just to give you a few examples of how sleep benefits your child:
Sleep plays a huge role in your child’s ability to learn, their motor development, their memory, and more.
It’s been shown to have a direct effect on their happiness. Studies show that lack of sleep negatively affect your child’s mood, attention, behavior, and happiness. We hear all the time from parents that their children are SO much more content after they’re finished working with us. Often times babies and toddlers seem like unhappy kids, but really, they’re just crazy tired! Of course they can’t concentrate or play happily or be content. They’re beside themselves from sleep deprivation.
Sleep can also improve your child’s ability to play independently and use their imagination!
Poor sleep can also negatively affect your child’s immune system and cause them to get sick more often.
Sleep directly affects your child’s growth, because growth hormones are only released during sleep! Poor sleep increases their risk for obesity.
And lastly, we’ve actually seen the side effects of lack of sleep be misdiagnosed as ADHD. Children are actually being put on medications when all they really need is better sleep! We would give anything to see Pediatricians and pediatric nurses address sleep more often!
It is never ever too late to help your child get the sleep they need to thrive and grow.
We have worked with babies and children of all different ages and there is always an answer.
When we work with families, we have them fill out a thorough questionnaire that tells us everything about their child’s days, nights, nutrition, family life etc.
It gives us a big picture view of what’s going on, day and night. We take a holistic approach and look at the whole child and the whole family to help come up with a plan and strategies that the family feels comfortable with. It’s typically multi-faceted and it’s never a one size fits all solution, but that’s why we do what we do!
If you and your family are struggling with sleep, we would love to come alongside you and help your child get the sleep they need. Click here to sign up for a personalized sleep plan today where you will work one on one with us to come up with a step by step game plan for your child, no matter what age. Use code PODCAST to save 10%
It’s never too late to give your child the lifelong skills they need for better sleep.