The Most Common Toddler Sleep Prop
Let’s Define What a Sleep Prop Is:
“Sleep Prop” is a common term in the world of sleep training. What it refers to, is something that a child uses to fall asleep - but this ‘thing’ can’t be done by themselves. For example: a baby needing to be rocked to sleep at bedtime and multiple times throughout the night. Another example could be a child using a pacifier, but as soon as it falls out of their mouth, they can’t replace it themselves or they refuse to replace it themselves.
Sleep props aren’t inherently bad, but some children are very attached to the way they fall asleep. So, if there are any changes to the way they fall asleep, the parent or caregiver is often met with some big protest and crying.
Here are the most common sleep props I see happening with babies:
Rocking/Bouncing to sleep
Feeding/Nursing to sleep
Parent-Assisted Drowsiness
Co-Sleeping
Pacifier (when it can’t be replaced alone)
Needing a positioner to fall asleep (Doc-A-Tot, Swing, Etc.)
What you do need to know about sleep training (and just baby sleep in general), is if you’re using a sleep prop and it’s working for your family, keep doing what you’re doing! Always remember that you’re in charge of your family situation, so don’t feel pressured to stop doing something that doesn’t feel right.
Over Time, The Sleep Prop Changes
It’s rare for a toddler or a young child to be falling asleep with a parent or caregiver feeding them to sleep, or even rocking them to sleep anymore. There are definitely people in this situation, but it’s less common. What I see most often in my sleep consulting business, is that parents make the switch from the crib to bed, and a host of problems occur.
The main problem being: you now need to lay with your toddler until they fall asleep.
Generally, laying with your toddler until they fall asleep morphs into something more. Instead of falling asleep quickly, they’re now…
Taking longer and longer to fall asleep, because they keep ‘checking on you’ to make sure you’re still in their bed.
They begin requesting more and more things…drink of water, another pee break, more stories, a snack, a hug from the dog, etc…the list really is endless.
They even start waking up in the night because they’ve rolled over, opened their eyes, and realized that you’ve left.
They may have started crawling into your bed since they’re now used to falling asleep next to someone.
Bedtime now feels frustrating, endless, and annoying! But the thing is, it doesn’t have to be like this.
If you’ve gotten caught in the routine of laying with your child until they fall asleep and it’s not working well for your family anymore, let’s chat about some options for you! When we’re talking about changing our toddler or young child’s sleep environment, we’re looking at making these changes over a 2 week period - nothing is an immediate fix, but you’ll definitely see some improvement right away.
