How do we deal with children who wake easily?

Does your child wake up easily? Does he wake up as soon as you close the nursery door? Or do you put him to sleep and put him in his cot and his eyes open?

These are all very common problems that parents tell me about. Of course, I have experienced them myself with my own child. Mums often say that unfortunately this is the case, their child is a "bad sleeper" and whatever they do, it takes a terrible effort to get them back to sleep.

First, please allow me to dispel this misconception.

Every child can be said to have trouble sleeping, but they can also be a good sleeper. In this issue, I'll tell you what - or rather who - matters: the parent.

We all sleep in cycles, going from an easily awakened state to a deeper one, and so on. Some children spend a little more time in the easily awakened range before entering the deep sleep phase. However, some children can fall into a deep sleep within moments. They all go through these different sleep cycles once they close their eyes.

The really restful sleep occurs in the so-called NREM cycle, when we sleep the deepest, which is in the middle of the cycle. This is why some people function perfectly well with less sleep during the day: they spend more time in the NREM cycle than others. Others spend more time in the light sleep phase and get less restful sleep during the night.

So when someone says that their baby is a light sleeper, it is probably more likely that the baby is spending more time in a light sleep state rather than a deep sleep state. When we sleep, external noises wake us more easily.

Babies' sleep cycles are significantly shorter than adults', so they spend practically twice as much time in the light sleep phase as we adults.

So if you find that your baby tends to wake up a lot, it's partly a question of timing.

What can be done about it? How can we teach our little ones to spend more time in a deep sleep state?

Well, the answer is that unfortunately they cannot be taught to do that. However, there is one very important thing you can do: you can teach them the art of falling asleep/falling back asleep on their own! This is one of the most important gifts you can give him and the whole family! They will enjoy the benefits for years, I can guarantee it!

There are many ways to teach them to do this, but the most important thing is to remove anything that makes your little one 'addicted' to sleep.

By this I mean objects that the baby uses to help him fall asleep, otherwise he would not be able to fall asleep. This includes pacifiers, music, lights and rocking toys.

If the baby can only fall asleep while driving, he will need to drive again when he wakes up at the end of the next sleep cycle. If this is done regularly, babies will learn to rely on this movement and repeated re-sleeping will become essential. A vicious circle, right?

This is often accompanied by a lot of crying and "whining", which only makes them sleep more and they need further reassurance to fall asleep again.

However, babies who are called "good sleepers" have the same sleep cycles as those who wake up crying. They, on the other hand, know how to self-soothe when they wake up and are able to fall back asleep on their own without parental assistance.

Overall, while you can't stop your little one from waking up at night, you can successfully teach them how to fall back asleep without help. Once you do, your baby and your whole family can look forward to restful, peaceful nights.