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Your preschooler needs sleep to help him grow strong and healthy. As most toddlers become preschoolers they will need between 11 and 13 hours’ sleep over a 24 hour period. They may only have a short nap each day or only need naps on occasional days. By the age of 4 your child’s circadian rhythm will be established and they may no longer need to sleep at all during the day, needing around 11-12 hours of sleep a night.

At around 3 your child will start to understand the concept that actions have consequences and good behavior can come with a reward. Once this understanding comes, you can use positive reinforcement (sometimes known as bribery!) to promote good behavior. This can really help with preschool bedtime battles, by offering your child an incentive to go to bed and stay there. Positive reinforcement can be used as the next stage from sleep training as your child becomes too old to put in a cot and, sometimes, to independent to go straight to bed!

Once your child is potty trained you will start thinking about getting them to stop wearing nappies at night. Different people take a different approach to becoming dry at night; some stop nappies altogether day and night while others wait until nappies become less wet naturally. As always, it is best to be lead by you and your child.

As your baby becomes a toddler bedtime battles will alter slightly. This is because they are more able to express themselves and negotiate with you and their reasons for not wanting to go to bed vary from being dependent on you, to worrying about missing out on something and, in older toddlerhood, the need to assert some authority in their life.