How do I teach my child to sleep alone?

Suppose you want to teach your child to sleep alone. In that case, the best thing you can do is to help them practice sleeping alone. That sounds simple enough, but depending on what your baby's current sleep associations are, it can be more or less difficult.

First, find the right timing for your baby's sleep.

All babies have sleep associations. When you want to change a sleep association, make it easier on yourself and your baby by ensuring you have the right sleep schedule for your baby's age. Having a personal schedule will make it much easier to teach them to sleep. You can track their current wake windows and find your schedule, or use an app like the Lovebug app to find a personalized schedule for you.

Next, establish a routine.

A routine will help you signal to your baby that it's almost time for sleep. When you repeat the same routine for every time they fall asleep, they will be in their routine and realize that it's almost time for sleep. Their body will start to calm down and they will fall asleep easier, since they know it's coming.

The right routine for you will depend on your baby's age and current sleep habits. An infant will do great with music, a baby thrives on books, and a toddler thrives on helping throughout the routine. Download the Lovebug app to see our full recommendations.

Finally, practice makes perfect.

After finding the perfect timing and establishing a routine that your baby associates with falling asleep, the only step left is to practice. Go through your routine when it's the right time for sleep. When you move to lay your baby in their sleep space to fall asleep on their own, give them the space to practice.

If your baby is under four months, give them 5 minutes to practice falling asleep on their own and watch them from a baby monitor. When your timing is right and they have a strong association with their routine, then they will likely fall asleep on their own.

If your baby is over four months, this is when you would use a sleep training technique to encourage them to practice falling asleep on their own. At Lovebug, we teach three methods and you can find them all in our app.