Why does my child take hours to fall asleep? Tips to avoid it 2026

You leave him in his crib or bed and after 10 minutes he starts screaming and calling you because he wants water, a bottle or a doll. He stays calm and after 5 minutes he starts screaming again asking for something more... You decide to put him in your bed to sleep and that's when he falls asleep out of pure exhaustion. Does it look familiar to you? It's clear that your child is avoiding bedtime.

How can you help your child fall asleep more peacefully?

1. Go to sleep early and sleepy

Amazon Essentials by Sofia Grainge - Summer 2026 Promotion

Although it is obvious that the child must arrive sleepy at bedtime, we must pay attention to the signs of sleep to know what is the ideal time for the little one to fall asleep. On many occasions, certain attitudes can be interpreted in the wrong way. For example, if he is agitated, nervous and has sudden mood changes, it is very likely that he is sleepy, even though it may seem otherwise. For this reason, I always recommend putting the little ones to bed early. Although in the summer season it can be somewhat complicated to comply with routines, we should try as much as possible not to take too long to put the little ones to sleep.2. Regularity and consistency.

Every human being has sleep windows, which are the optimal time to fall asleep. Adults are capable of managing them, but when a child goes past the time at which he usually falls asleep, it is more difficult for him to fall asleep and, as a general rule, this tiredness will cause hyperactivity and a bad mood.

If we really want to establish a reasonable time at which the child falls asleep without problems, it is important that we as parents respect that time. If you go to bed at a different time every day, you will be confused and your body will not be able to prepare itself for sleep.

3. Avoid activities that activate you before falling asleep or encourage you to stay awake.

An hour before going to sleep, slow down your activities and eliminate some. In this way, you will prevent them from wanting to continue with a specific activity when it is time to get into the crib or bed, delaying bedtime. For example, it is not recommended to use devices such as tablets or mobile phones, watch television or play a game that makes you nervous. There are other ways to spend time with your little one without getting them upset, such as reading a story in their bed/room can be an incentive for them to get ready for bed. Thus, you will associate that moment with bedtime and your body will prepare itself to fall asleep. Also, if you leave only dim light in the room, you will fall asleep faster. Finally, I would like to remind you that melatonin plays a very important role in sleep. If when bedtime approaches, we adapt the environment so that it begins to secrete the sleep hormone, you will fall asleep naturally, since your body will be prepared. What is the perfect environment? Very dim light to read the story or sing the song, calm and without noise, no bright lights or movement in the room... the fewer stimuli there are, the better.