Tip--Using the Family Bed sleeping arrangement is a good solution to a high-need child's sleep problems.

When you're the parent of a high-need baby or child, making it through the day can feel heroic. Trying to make it through a sleepless, disrupted night can reduce you to a wet noodle. Some babies seem to cry twenty-four hours a day and don't want to be put down. Some toddlers and preschoolers take every second of your attention. Sleep problems are quite common with such high-need children.

Whether you have a colicky baby, or a high-spirited, demanding two year old who won't go to sleep on her own, it's obvious you need sleep at night, if only to survive the daytime. The Family Bed can solve the sleep problems for you.

Tool--The custom of the mother, father, and young child sleeping together is called the Family Bed. The basic belief is that babies desire and need to be close to those who love them best. Rebecca Huntley, parent educator and author of The Sleep Book for Tired Parents, says, "The basic idea of the Family Bed approach is that the whole family unit will work best if the needs of all members, including the children, are met."

Advantages of the Family Bed are many: it's easy to feed a baby upon demand; parents don't have to wake up as fully since neither has to go anywhere to attend to baby; it increases the amount of time the father spends with the child; it increases bonding and the development of intimacy between parents and child; it can coax early risers back to sleep; and, as mentioned, it can be a good way to meet the needs of a challenging child with the least amount of separation and stimulation for him--and with the least amount of drain on the parents.

Be aware that sleeping together, in the same bed, all of the time is only one option; there are many variations to the Family Bed. Some families set up mattresses on the floor next to the parents' bed for the children. Other parents simply welcome children into their bed during the night as the need arises.

The most frequent question parents have about Family Bed is wondering when the child will leave. Although some children need to be gradually weaned from the parental bed, most voluntarily choose to sleep in their own beds by around age three.

You’ll find more practical tips you can use right now in The Sleep Book for Tired Parents by Rebecca Huntley.

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