There always seems to be a reason why parents can’t sleep train their baby right now. One of them being that the baby crying might wake up the older siblings. So I’m here to tell you that, you don’t have to not sleep train your baby just because you have older children.
So you’re not alone okay, don’t feel like you’re the only parent who can’t sleep train your kid because you have older kids. So I have three kids, and all three of them have been sleep trained, and in the process nobody else lost sleep.
What if the Baby Wakes Up Everyone in the House
A lot of parents have this fear that when their baby wakes up crying, then the toddler’s going wake up screaming, and then everybody In the house is going to awake and be miserable. But, it really doesn’t have to be that way.
I’m going to help you navigate around these hurdles so that you can sleep train your baby, and have your older kids still get sleep. You would definitely be surprised to know that when I work with families who have older siblings. Nine times out of ten, that older sibling doesn’t even wake up when the baby is going through the sleep training process. Even though they may be crying a little more through the night. Parents are surprised, but of course I’m going tell you all the tips on how to avoid waking up your older child while sleep training your younger baby.
Tips for Sleep Training
So let’s jump into my top five tips on sleep training your baby when you have an older child. Tip number one is to always have open communication with your older child if you’re planning on sleep training the baby. We are going to be sleep training the baby, and that means that there might be a lot more crying at bedtime, and through the night. But just so you know, we’re going to be helping the baby learn how to sleep by herself so that she’s not waking everybody up all night long.
- Involve your older child, giving them a job for their bedtime routine.
- Have a list of activities your older child can do, while your baby is napping.
- Double up on white noise. Even begin using it in your toddlers room again.
- Ask for help! Have a family member or friend help keep your older child busy, while you get the baby to sleep.
Need more help?
If you need more support, I offer one-on-one consultations where I write you a customized sleep plan, and you have two weeks of support with me. So if you’re interested in that fill out the form in here, and we’ll hop on a phone call and figure out which package is right for you.
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Missy Yandow
Pediatric Sleep Consultant
Potty Training Coach
