Life

If Your Toddler's Now A Night Owl, These 8 Products Can Encourage Better Sleep Habits

by Cat Bowen

I don't think I've ever been as tired as I was during my daughter's toddler years. She would routinely wake in the middle of the night, only to come into our room and stare at my husband and me from the foot of the bed until we inevitably startled (sometimes screaming) awake and got her back to her bed before she'd wake at 5 a.m. Lather, rinse, repeat. Eventually, with a lot of research and assistance from Amazon, she found her rhythm, and we were all better for it. Thank goodness for sleeping products for toddlers because without them, I think I would still be fighting this battle today.

Most of the time, getting our kid to sleep was just trial and error based on how our pediatricians guided us and what expert research had to say on the issue. We tried everything from weighted blankets to sound machines, and while some things were absolutely golden, most did absolutely nothing. The one thing we never tried were supplements. While we'd heard a ton from parents about essential oils and melatonin, our pediatrician advised against their use, and frankly, there just wasn't enough peer-reviewed research for my taste. We relied on good old fashioned mechanical ingenuity, and it really did help. If your toddler's having some trouble getting to sleep, these products could help. (Just remember that every kid's different.)