An Easy Trick to Get Your Toddler to Sleep

Are you having a hard time getting your toddler to go to sleep? I have discovered a really fun trick to get my toddler to sleep.

I’m far from a perfect mom, but I do have my genius mommy moments. This one of my favorite strokes of mommy genius. Who doesn’t want (and let’s be honest, absolutely need) more sleep?

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For real.

So, here’s a quick easy way to get your toddler to sleep.

One afternoon my toddler and I were laying down for a nap. We were co-sleeping at the time, and so I would usually help him go to sleep.

Shoutout to all the co-sleeping mamas out there. It’s hard work waiting on your child to be ready to go to sleep on their own. I know.

But this trick does work even if you aren’t co-sleeping with a toddler.

He was especially active and crazy this week. And, honestly, I dreaded nap time every afternoon. If you’re a mom, you know nap-time is the prize you get in the afternoon for enduring the morning. But to dread naptime. That’s a really really bad situation to be in.

Getting Toddlers to Sleep is a Game

All toddlers love playing games. I read something once that explained that toddlers are always the “losers.” They are smaller, shorter, slower, and less-coordinated than everyone else. They have to struggle more than others to accomplish even simple tasks. So, they always love a chance to actually win.

My little guy was no different. We played all kinds of “games.” Like playing the game to chase the germs out of his mouth with a toothbrush. Or the game to race mom to the potty. Or the game to see who could pick up the most toys the fastest.

Or, in this case, to see who could be the quietest.

Enter the Quiet Game

So, I came up with the idea to turn our naptime into a game.

I explained the rules of the quiet game. He was immediately intrigued. We had a round where I lost. It was all fun and giggles as I over-reacted to my loss. We had a round where he lost. And then, we played our last round of the quiet game.

You can tread carefully here. My toddler wasn’t afraid of being awake alone back then, but I know that now some mornings when I don’t respond immediately (or soon) he gets worried. So, proceed at your own discretion.

The last round of our game, the room filled with silence as we were competing to see who could be the quietest. And then, I started lightly snoring. I had “accidentally fallen asleep.” He tried to get me to wake up, but I just snored louder.

And eventually, he laid back down and talked to himself for a few minutes. It was the absolute most adorable conversation ever. It was excruciating trying not to laugh. I just wanted to hug him all over. “*sigh* Mom’s asleep. She fell asleep. We were playing a game. I wonder if she’ll ever wake up. *high pitched pretend voice* Oh no! Mom’s asleep! What are we going to do now?!”

And in just a few minutes, you’ll never believe it. The little pretend voice got quiet. And in a few more minutes, the wiggles stopped. And my boy was asleep. Without a fuss. And without a fight.

That is my genius mommy moment to get my toddler to sleep. If you’re having a hard time getting your toddler to go to sleep, give this tip a try. Even if it doesn’t work, you at least had fun trying! 😀

If you’re looking for a more long-term solution, you might want to read this post about how to get your toddler to sleep quickly every time.