How I helped a 16-month-old stop co-sleeping

I helped the parents of a 16 month old chronic bed sharer get their own bed back.

The background

Baby A had spent most of her life co-sleeping in mum and dad's bed. This worked when she was small but was getting too much for mum and dad now they had a bigger, very wriggly toddler on their hands. The 'quick win' of getting her in bed with them for a better night’s sleep, was no longer working.

Baby A would sometimes fall asleep in her cot, but from about 11pm, she'd be back in bed with mum and dad for the rest of the night. Being so close to mum meant she'd be waking several times for a quick feed.

What I spotted

After chatting to the family, there were a few schedule issues that needed to be ironed out and the bedtime routine was frequently interrupted by her older sibling. Baby A was also unable to self-settle and had become reliant on a feed from mum to get back to sleep.

What we did

There were some clear small and easy changes to both Baby A's schedule and her bedtime routine. I also armed mum and dad with a tailored plan to help comfortably and gently teach Baby A to be less reliant on feeding to sleep. Mum and Dad were keen to take things really slow, happy to take their time to help Baby A feel comfortable staying in her own cot.

The results

After a week we saw some great progress with Baby A managing to make it until 3am before needing more comfort from mum. Within 3 weeks Baby A was spending 95% of her nights in her own room, giving mum and dad some well-deserved rest from little feet digging into their backs all night long.