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Parents can take many steps to help facilitate their child’s efforts to sleep soundly. For example, scheduling the same bedtime every night and keeping a consistent nighttime routine can help encourage sleep in children who have insomnia. Use of a night-light or providing a child with an object of security – such as a favorite stuffed animal – can reduce the likelihood of nightmares. Night terrors can be reduced by increasing the time a child sleeps. If a child sleepwalks, parents should make sure they are in a secure environment, with no bunk beds and staircases blocked.

Infants may fall asleep more easily after being fed or rocked prior to bedtime. However, it is important not to overdo this technique, because it can make it more difficult for children to break away from this pattern as they grow a little older. In fact, some experts recommend that parents avoid falling into this trap by either ignoring their child’s cries altogether, or delaying their response to the child’s cries for increasingly longer periods of time. Although this can be emotionally difficult for the parents, it often accomplishes the goal of teaching children to return to sleep on their own.

Other tips for parents vary according to a child’s age. For example, sleeping tips for newborns (ages 1 to 2 months) include:

• Learn a baby’s sleeping patterns and watch for signs that indicate sleepiness
  
  
• Place drowsy babies in a crib before they fall asleep
  
  
• Lay babies on their backs with the head clear of blankets and other soft items
  
  
• Promote nighttime sleep in the baby

Tips for infants (3 months to 1 year) include:

• Keep a consistent bedtime schedule and routine that is enjoyable for the child
  
  
• Establish an environment conducive to sleep
  
  
• Encourage the baby to fall asleep independently

Tips for toddlers (1 to 3 years) include:

• Maintain an established bedtime schedule and routine
  
  
• Keep sleep environment stable throughout the night and from night to night
  
  
• Set clearly communicated, consistent and enforced limits on a child’s night routine
  
  
• Encourage the child to have a security object such as a stuffed animal

Tips for preschoolers (4 to 5 years) include:

• Maintain a consistent sleep schedule
  
  
• Keep a relaxing bedtime routine that ends in the child’s room
  
  
• Child’s room should be cool and quiet, and not have a television

Tips for school-aged children (6 to 12 years) include:

• Teach children about healthy sleeping habits
  
  
• Emphasize the need for a regular sleep routine and schedule
  
  
• Monitor the amount of time a child spends watching television or using the computer before bedtime
  
  
• Encourage the child to avoid caffeine

Parents are also encouraged to keep their children from consuming too many foods and beverages with caffeine, such as chocolate and soft drinks. Other tips include:

• Make sure children avoid eating or drinking too close to bedtime. This can interrupt sleep.
  
  
• Encourage a child to maintain a healthy body weight. Many cases of sleep apnea (slowed or stopped breathing during sleep) occur among overweight children. Weight loss can alleviate or eliminate the symptoms.
  
  
• Exercise. Exercising regularly often helps children sleep, although exercising too soon before bedtime can cause difficulties falling asleep.
  
  
• Find the right temperature for sleeping. Extreme temperatures can disrupt a child's sleep.
  
  
• Get proper light exposure. Too little exposure to sunlight during the day can cause sleep problems at night. Bedrooms should be kept dark so light does not interfere with sleep.
  
  
• Control noise. Environmental noise can be minimized with ear plugs, rugs, heavy curtains or drapes or double-pane windows.
  
  
• Get a proper mattress. Mattress quality can impact sleep quality.
  
  
• Maintain consistent sleep and wake times and encourage children to get into bed only when tired.

Children who have less serious, secondary sleep disturbances often can improve their sleep time by learning to self-soothe. This technique encourages children to use self-comforting measures to relax themselves when they wake in the middle of the night. Studies have shown that high percentages of children are able to regularly return to sleep once they have mastered this technique. Putting infants to bed when they are drowsy but not yet asleep appears to encourage these children to become successful “self-soothers.”  

In some cases, medical intervention may be needed to treat sleep disorders in children. Some pediatricians have used medications such as antihistamines for children with trouble sleeping. However, long-term use of medications for insomnia in children is not recommended and there is limited information on the use of adult sleep medications for children. Other conditions such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or mental retardation may require other medications that can help a child’s sleep disorder.

Many children who have frequent throat infections such as tonsillitis may have troubled breathing and sleeping due to enlarged tonsils. Removal of the tonsils (tonsillectomy) can help this problem.

Research shows that exercise can often alleviate sleep problems in overweight children.