How To Help Your Child Transition From Co-Sleeping To Sleeping Independently
How do I help my child transition from co-sleeping to sleeping independently?
If you want to transition your child from co-sleeping to sleeping independently, your strategies really vary according to their age. You've got to understand, at some point the child is not going to want to do this. There's going to be resistance. Now, if you're dealing with an older child, maybe a child that's 3 years and up, you may be able to use what are called incentive techniques; by saying, “You know, you're a big boy now. You're big enough to sleep in your own bed. Let's get you your own bed. Look at your bed.” Get your child involved. You must understand that children at about 3 years or more, even a little younger, want to be autonomous; they want to kind of make decisions for themselves. It's very important for them to feel that they're in control. So, you involve your child and say “Let's go and pick out the bed. Let's go and make the bed. Let's prepare it,” and get your child invested and involved in the situation. You may say “Now you're a big boy, and if you can sleep in your bed, you can get a sticker, and if you get so many stickers then you'll get a certain treat.” Remember that you've got to be very graphic and be very concrete. So, it's basically incentive driven. You may want your child to get used to it first. You can use the same kind of principle you'd use when you're potty training. During the daytime you may want the child to lie on the bed and play on the bed initially, just get used to the idea of “This is my room. This is my bed” and then constantly reinforce it: “Wow, you're such a big boy. You're lying on your own bed. That's such a good job. Wow, that is amazing!” Just reinforce it so the child starts to feel internally that “This is something I have control over.” That really helps a great deal. If the child feels that they have some control over what they're doing, it makes this transition a lot easier.
