Settling in and Sleep

As the german saying goes: “viele wege führen nach rom“, or translated roughly to english, “many roads ways lead to rome”. In the same sense, many roads lead to sleep. What all of these “roads” have in common is this: falling asleep requires the feeling of security and comfort. If you signal to a child: here you can feel comfortable and safe, she will be able to relax and eventually fall asleep (graf & seide, 2019).

At the beginning of her life, a child obtains this sense of security through close contact with caregivers. Some may take longer than others to reach this point. With time, you can give a child this safety and comfort also with the help of other things as well. For example, a cosy sleeping place, a cuddly toy, a night light or music can all act as sleep aids (Graf & Seide, 2019). Rufus’s father may feel more comfortable with his child sleeping at the kindergarten if he was able to provide for him a certain object from home to sleep with. This can and should be suggested to parents during the settling-in process (Abrams, 2017).