Info about Snacks

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What to Do If Your Toddlers Eat Too Many Snacks

If you've always waited until your child has fallen asleep before you leave the room, your presence will be built into her notion of bedtime and she's going to find the moment of separation particularly difficult. And you're going to find that large chunks of your evening are vanishing without trace.


Children who can get to sleep only with a parent in the room need to learn how to fall asleep by themselves. What might start as a little extra comfort when the child is very little can turn into an issue of control as the child learns how to put off the moment of separation longer and longer to keep you by their side.


• The sleep separation technique


This technique is a means of gradually breaking the cycle of dependency, so your child learns that he can get to sleep without your being in the room.


 When you put your child to bed, don't get into bed with him. Don't sit on the bed. Say good-night, give him a cuddle and tell him it's time to go to sleep. Then sit very close to the bed on the floor.


 Turn the child so he's facing away from you. If he keeps eye contact with you, he will try to start a conversation. Tell him to close his eyes and that it's time to go to sleep.


 Make sure the light is off and the door is open.


 Sit in silence, not looking at the child, until the child goes to sleep. Each time he tries to talk to you, just tell him, "Sleep."


 The next night, repeat the same stages, sitting a little further away from the bed. Over the coming nights, move further and further toward the door until you are sitting outside the open door.


 The last stage is to go through the procedure sitting outside the door, with the door ajar. Naturally this technique is going to take quite a while, but remember that you're breaking a habit that could otherwise go on for years.