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The first time you child sleeps in his very own bedroom

10/01/2018

Cameretta da solo

The time has come at last! Your child is finally going to sleep in his very own room. What can we do to make the transition to his own room happy and trauma-free?

The first thing to remember is that there is no rule for when a child should start sleeping on his own; this is up to his parents, since no one better than they know what their children need and what is best for them.

Even if there is no rule for when this transition should take place, there are times when it is advisable not to make the transition. For example, it is better not to move your child to his own room if a new baby brother or sister has arrived; do it before (in the early months of your pregnancy) or after the baby is born, once the family has settled down to the new routine, and your oldest child has become accustomed to having a sibling.

The same applies if there are other important changes in your child’s life: don’t “move” your child to his own bedroom, for example, if he has just started going to nursery school or you have just gone back to work. It would not be easy for your child to cope with the separation from you and move to his own bedroom as well.

There is also another aspect to keep in mind. You must initially be prepared to let your child come back to sleep in the big bed or his cot in your room sometimes. But make it quite clear that he will be allowed to sleep in the big bed only on exceptional occasions, and that the rule is that he must sleep in his own room.

Once you have decided however, you must be consistent; so if you decide that your child is no longer allowed to sleep in the big bed, see it through, even if he begs you and you feel like relenting, otherwise you will risk confusing your little one.

So before making the move, decide if you are up to coping with it, because once you have decided that your child must sleep in his own room, you may have to get up more than once during the night, to get him to go back to sleep.

But if you realize that your child is not ready to face this change, put it off until you feel he is ready, rather than forcing your child to sleep in his own room at all costs.

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