It has worked like a charm 4 times straight, but your mileage may vary.
Other sleep tips, as they get older:
- No reading in bed near bedtime, ever.
- No playing in bed near bedtime.
- No nighttime routines except short short hugs and kisses. No tucking in.
- Train them to put their pajamas on by themselves and brush their teeth by themselves as soon as they are physically able to do those things, and make sure they do it without help each night.
- No toys in the rooms except stuffed animals and similar bedtime items.
- If they get in the habit of calling for you unnecessarily at night, start taking stuff away each time you come (e.g., their least favorite stuffed animal). That alters the risk/reward ratio for them and they'll stop calling for you for no reason very quickly.
Why, please? Everybody does this. Does it prolong the time to get to sleep?
Kids thrive with structure but it takes discipline to maintain consistency.
It’s not magic, in a nutshell it just makes sure your kids have a very reliable routine and they are never super tired or super hungry.
Goodness springs from there.