Expert Advice: Helping a toddler sleep through the night

Host Amber Smith: Here's some expert advice from Dr. Travis Hobart from Upstate Medical University. What can parents do to get a toddler to sleep through the night?

Travis Hobart, MD: That's a challenging question that I get often from parents, and it's a challenging problem to fix over time. I think the key things the parents can do are: Try to be really consistent with bedtime. Try to make it the same time every night, the same pattern of getting into PJ's, brushing their teeth, yada, yada, taking a bath, whatever the bedtime routine is, reading a story, hopefully. But doing that at the same time and in the same order every night, and that that is a quiet routine, too, is important. So it's not watching TV before bed. It's not playing video games before bed. It's not looking at an iPad or a phone before bed, not looking at screens. It's better to get the half an hour, or hour before bed screen-free, quiet activities, bath time, reading a story, and making that as consistent as possible.

Then you want to respond to your toddler's needs, if they want a glass of water by bed or they want the nightlight on, that's fine. That's great. Or if they want a toy or something or blanket that they snuggle with, that's also fine. That can be a comfort for them at nighttime to help them fall back asleep if they wake up.

And then I think really trying to be strict, as strict as you can about keeping the kid in their own bed, not letting them come into your bed, but trying to redirect them back to their bed and help them fall asleep in their bed. But then you have your own bed so that they get used to falling asleep on their own, in their own bed.

And if they are waking up in the middle of the night, over time as you deal with it on a night by night basis, if you have to go in and calm them down in the room, try to gradually make that process -- wait a little bit longer before you go in, give them a little bit more time to fall asleep on their own, and then gradually make that process a little bit less intensive. So you might go into the room the first night and hold them in the bed. Then the next night, maybe you stand next to the bed, and do that for a few nights. And then the next week you maybe don't go in the room, you stand outside the room and try to calm them down from the doorway, that kind of thing, so that you're gradually allowing them more of their own ability to fall asleep on their own, if that makes sense.

The main other thing is just be patient. Because it is going to take some time. And I know that it's frustrating, and I know everybody gets tired. It is a challenging problem, but it will take time, and they will learn eventually.

Host Amber Smith: You've been listening to Dr. Travis Hobart from Upstate Medical University.