This is a question I get asked a lot, often parents say to me that they think they’ve left it too late to improve their little ones sleep. I have to say that’s really not true! 

Here are my thoughts on different aged children and what can be achieved. 

0 to 4 months

These tiny babies need our love and care, any sleep help will be based around implementing a good routine and putting good practices into place.

4-6 months

By now we can gently guide our babies into good sleep habits, improve poor napping and help with sleep regressions, but babies at this age still may need a feed in the night, so you’ll need to keep giving your baby a night feed, unless your little one has dropped their night feed by themselves.

6-12 months

Now we can start to really improve your little ones sleep. It’s been proven that babies over six months old don’t need a feed in the night anymore, they are capable at this age of taking in all the calories they need during the day, to last them through the night. So now we can drop those last night feeds and get your little cherub sleeping through the night. A lot of parents go back to work when they’re babies are around a year old so 9 to 10 months is a popular time to choose to get your baby sleeping through the night.

12 months-2.5 years

Your baby will most likely be in a cot at this age and many people think they might have left it too late to improve sleep. But babies respond really well to sleep support at this age. Some little ones will be sleeping in a bed by now and this cot to bed transition can cause sleep issues, but these can also be ironed out.

2.5 years to school age

I think we presume that children will be sleeping through by now but it’s very common for little ones to be waking at this age, or to want to sleep in their parents beds. As children of this age are usually sleeping in a bed, sleep support can be a bit more tricky! But you can achieve good results whether the problem is leaving the room when you say good night, night wakings or bed hopping! As always we can take a gentle approach or move things faster to get your child sleeping through the night.