5 Days to a Perfect Night's Sleep for Your Child The Secrets to Making Bedtime a Dream

These days, most books on improving your child's sleep take either a tough-love approach (ignore crying) or a soothing strategy (offer continuous comfort). But now an internationally renowned sleep expert provides a middle-ground method that will have your child sleeping through the night at any age. Dr. Eduard Estivill's no-fail technique focuses on a mixture of authority, ritual, and reward. Parents can end negative cycles of resistance and wakefulness and feel as rested as their child will by following these expert tips: Adopt a firm and confident attitude (your child will pick up on your mood), Use meals as a cue to announce your child's next nap or nighttime sleep, Incorporate appropriate elements (such as a stuffed animal or a pacifier) at bedtime so your child will not rely on you as a vital part of the sleep process, Reinforce the contrast between light (day) and dark (night), Never punish children by making them go to bed (it sends the wrong message about sleep time), Learn what to say before-and after-the light is turned off.

Eduard Estivill, M.D., is director of the Sleep Disturbances Clinic at the Institut Dexeus in Barcelona, Spain, where he is also head of the Neurophysiology Unit. Trained in both America and Spain, he is a specialist in pediatrics, neurophysiology, and sleep medicine.