Prayer for toddler to sleep

Teaching your children some bedtime prayers is a great way to get them to enjoy this quiet time speaking with the Lord before nighttime. Here is a look at some of the most popular and simple bedtime prayers for toddlers that rhyme.

Prayer #1

“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.”

Prayer #2

“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.”

Prayer #3

“Our Father, Who art in Heaven
Hallowed be thy name
Thy kingdom come
Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us
And lead us not into temptation
But deliver us from evil
Amen”

Prayer #4

“Now I lay me down to sleep.
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
If I should die before I wake,
I pray to God my soul to take.
If I should live for other days,
I pray the Lord to guide my ways.

Father, unto thee I pray,
Thou hast guarded me all day;
Safe I am while in thy sight,
Safely let me sleep tonight.
Bless my friends, the whole world bless;
Help me to learn helpfulness;
Keep me every in thy sight;
So to all I say good night.”

Prayer #5

“How we praise and thank You for the precious little lives of all new-born babies, little toddlers and young children, knowing that each one is special to You and was known in Your heart, even before conception.

Thank You that You have scheduled every day of each little life.. and we praise and thank You for the special plans and purposes You have for every single new-born child – for all babies and infants.

We pray Your loving protection over all babies and their families and pray that many may be brought up to know the Lord Jesus as their Saviour. Give parents and grandparents and all those that are in any way connected with young babies the wisdom and grace to care for them in a loving and secure environment.

Guard and protect, guide and provide for each innocent little baby and protect their the hearts and minds from a society that has grown far from the God Who created them and sent His Son to die – so that they might life – this we ask in Jesus name,

Amen”

Prayer #6

“How we praise and thank You for our precious little baby and all the joy that he/she has brought us, and so Father, into Your hands we commit our precious little one and pray that You grace and love would surround him/her and that You would keep him in good health and strength and protect from him from the diseases and illnesses that can be so troubling for a young child

We pray not only for physical health and strength and a strong, healthy body but also for mental well-being and emotional stability.

But also Father we bring before You the spiritual well-being of our precious child. We pray that he would grow up learn to know and love the Lord Jesus personally and come to accept Him as Saviour.

Lord we pray that You would endow this little one with health in every area of his development and thank You for what You are going to do in his life – and we will give You all the praise and glory. This we ask in Jesus name,

Amen”

Prayer #7

“Dear God,

You made me,
To jump for joy,
To sing happy songs,
To run fast,
To climb high,
To spin and twirl.

You made me
To dance with excitement,
To clap with thanks,
To laugh lots,
To shout loud,
To be a brilliant me!”

Here is a great lullaby of bedtime prayers. This is a great collection of prayers that will help encourage your child to give thanks to Him and receive blessings before bedtime.

About the Author of this Blog Post Crystal Ayres has served as our editor-in-chief for the last five years. She is a proud veteran, wife and mother. The goal of ConnectUs is to publish compelling content that addresses some of the biggest issues the world faces. If you would like to reach out to contact Crystal, then go here to

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I know you’re exhausted, and you probably feel like you’ve tried everything, but don’t give up Mama! From books and strategies to supplements and magnesium for toddler sleep, try these these 11 natural ways to help toddlers sleep through the night, at last!

If you’ve greeted my husband or I with a polite, “How are you?” anytime within the last two and a half years, I can almost guarantee the one word answer we gave.

It wasn’t a generic “fine,” or “good,” but something much more specific: “TIRED.”

From the time we had our son in 2011, we’ve been absolutely exhausted.

It’s been a while since I’ve written anything about the ongoing saga of sleep issues we’ve had with our oldest. Quite frankly, it’s because I had pretty much given up. I started telling myself, surely he’ll sleep through the night by the time he’s 5. (Depressing I know.)

But every once in a while I would hear of some natural remedy or gentle sleep strategy that would give me a hope.

The lack of sleep wasn’t just hard on us. Our poor boy was chronically overtired. He wanted to sleep. He tried to sleep.

He’d happily stay in bed, but falling asleep frequently took two hours. Then he’d be up several times a night, sometimes for an hour or more, unable to sleep or keep still.

Finally, he’d be up for the day at 4:30 or 5 am!

I am happy to say that he finally started sleeping through the night on a fairly consistent basis starting at about 30 months, sooner than I ever thought possible.

This has been a long journey, and this post is going to get quite long. If you’re struggling with total exhaustion, desperate to help your toddler sleep, I don’t want to leave any details out that might help you on your own quest to help your toddler sleep through the night.

So without further ado, here’s what finally worked (along with some things that didn’t) to help my toddler sleep through the night…

Ways to Help Toddlers Sleep Through the Night

The Baby Days

At first, it was the expected newborn stage. Babies need to be fed a couple times in the middle of the night. It’s totally normal up to a year or more.

Sometimes, they have gas or are teething. But this went way beyond that.

At about four months, I finally had the light bulb go on: he exhibited all the characteristics of a high need baby: nursing constantly, almost never napping, up every two hours or more at night, needing to be held all. the.time.

I love my high need baby of course. I was thankful to be his mommy and to be willing and able to provide him the comfort he clearly needed. Still, a person can only go without sleep for so long.

By the time he was seven months old, (I thought) I was at my breaking point. I could do little more than sit and stare into space while holding the baby during the day after being up all night. You can see from my thin blogging archives that any personal time or hobbies was just about zero in those months.

No Cry Sleep Solution

My baby’s doctor loaned me a copy of the No Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley at his 9 month check up. It sounded like the promised land.

It’s a book by a mom of four that helps teach baby to sleep using gentle methods. You can still co-sleep, and you don’t have to let them cry!

Thus, we embarked on Operation Mama Needs Sleep. I thoroughly documented everything about my baby’s sleep as Pantely suggests, even jotting down notes in the dark at 2 am.

I created a detailed bedtime plan. I tried the famous Pantely-pull-off. I made him a lovely and wore it around in my blouse to get my smell on it.

And we did have some success. At about 9-months of age, he went from waking up more than six times a night to about five.

The biggest improvement was in naps. Instead of taking several 20-40 minute naps a day on me, I was able to get him to sleep in bed for up to an hour at a time without having to hold him the whole time.

Dr. Sears Weighs In

I also read Dr. Sear’s The Baby Book and The Baby Sleep Book around that time and tried out his suggestions.

I made my baby an organic cotton sleep sack and avoided synthetic fabrics that might cause allergies or irritation.

I put a thermometer in the bedroom to make sure it was the ideal 70 degrees.

I attempted to do a breastfeeding elimination diet to rule out food allergies and sensitivities, specifically dairy. However, I was so exhausted at that time that I kept forgetting and eating dairy! I suspect that this is a strategy that would have worked for us if I would have had the capacity at that time.

If you have a fussy baby who has frequent and severe spit up and explosive diapers or who is sick frequently, you might consider trying an elimination diet if you’re feeling up to it. (Don’t let these symptoms be overlooked like I did.)

This is a diet in which you as the breastfeeding mom eliminate foods from your diet that may be causing your baby digestive issues through your milk. Dr. Sears has a thorough list of foods that could cause irritation in The Baby Book with instructions on how to do the diet. The New Childhood Epidemics book also has a great list.

A new doctor, a boatload of supplements

By his 18 month check up we had moved to eastern Washington, and I had sought out a naturally-minded pediatrician who had done a lot of research into natural supplements and homeopathic remedies.

With this perfect cocktail, she had taken her son from frequent hospital stays for his asthma, to not even needing meds.

She recommended a similar regimen for my son, including a multivitamin (we used Kids Liquid Calm), fish oil, and vitamin D among other things.

For the first time ever, he started sleeping through the night about two out of every seven nights. Progress!

Night Weaning

When he was 20 months old (and I was pregnant with my baby girl) we decided to start potty training.

Because getting breastmilk right before bed and throughout the night was going to make nighttime potty training difficult, we also decided to night wean.

My husband started putting him to bed and getting up with him throughout the night. There were some tears, but after about a week they had their own bedtime routine worked out without Mama’s help.

If you’ve spent much time searching for sleep solutions for your little ones, it’s likely you’ve come across the advice that their constant waking is because they just want to nurse all night, and if you would only night wean them (or wean them completely), they would sleep through.

It seems to me that breastfeeding is blamed all too often for any number of childhood issues.

Night weaning worked splendidly for potty training. However, night weaning did not improve BabyE’s sleep.

It did however improve my sleep, as his daddy got up with him in the middle of the night, and I got to stay in bed. It was perfect timing, as I was so exhausted at the beginning of my pregnancy.

Dietary Changes

My son had been gluten free and mostly dairy free for quite some time. However, I was (and still am) concerned about him getting enough Calcium, so I continued to give him yogurt. Plus he loved it.

When he was about 28 months old, I finally cut dairy completely out of his diet.

Some of his chronic tummy issues subsided immediately.

He began sleeping through about three times a week and went back to sleep more easily when he did wake up.

He went from getting sick every two weeks (pretty much constantly) to once every couple of months.

Bedtime Routine

At around 30 months, we sat down one night and developed this rigorous bedtime routine to help our “baby” (now a toddler quickly growing into a preschooler) wind down and get ready to sleep.

Here are complete details of our bedtime routine, with information about a few different supplements we use.

1. Get Ready.

Be sure to put PJs and potty in the bathroom ahead of time so he didn’t get wound up running around the house while we were trying to find these items later.

2. Offer 1 tsp of coconut oil on a spoon.

This idea came from Bulletproof Executive that recommends eating protein and fat such as coconut oil at dinner or before bed to improve sleep. (Alternatively they suggest honey and krill oil. We tried the honey without the krill oil, but didn’t have any luck.)

We started by offering a mix of peanut butter and coconut oil, but E found he preferred just the coconut oil alone, and it worked just as well. We always have protein with dinner, so that part of the equation was already taken care of.

It makes sense to me why this works. Over the past year or so, when E would take a long time to fall asleep or would wake up in the middle of the night, he would communicate to us that he was hungry.

And most of the time, he convinced us that this (which many would deem toddler manipulation) was authentic by eating a full meal in the middle of the night, even if he’d eaten plenty at every meal during the day. He was like the Very Hungry Caterpillar! It was almost shocking to see how much he put away.

The protein and coconut oil provided fuel to last him through the night and helped to stabilize blood sugar, so he didn’t feel hungry anymore.

3. Make time for bath time.

I add about 1/2 cup epsom salt in a warm bath and let him soak and play in it for at least 20 minutes before bed. Much thanks to Angela at Grassfed Mama for her series on sleep that mentioned this trick.

4. More Magnesium.

Get out of the bath and rub about 1/2 teaspoon magnesium oil lotion on his belly before putting on pajamas, going potty, and brushing teeth.

I started doing this back when I did my review of magnesium lotion for Creative Christian Mama, but I was sporadic about remembering. Now it is a regular part of our routine because it works.

There’s magnesium in both the Epsom salt and magnesium lotion which helps the muscles relax and the body get restful sleep, among many other benefits. You can take a magnesium supplement orally, but it is generally thought to be absorbed best through the skin.

These two sleep strategies work for moms too!

When I was experiencing pregnancy induced insomnia with my second pregnancy, I would get up and rub magnesium lotion all over my belly. I’d get back in bed and almost immediately fall deeply asleep.

Then the other night, I decided to try an Epsom salt bath for myself to help with achy muscles. Oh me oh my! Shortly afterward, I was knitting and having a conversation with my husband, and I was literally falling asleep mid-stitch and mid-sentence!

5. Lights out.

Then E goes and gets in bed (usually jumps thanks to taking our suggestion to “jump in bed” literally). We turn on a loud box fan for white noise.

Then we read him three stories. He gets up to potty one last time and turns out the lights.

Finally, we sing 3 songs (Twinkle, twinkle, little star seems to do the trick the best) and then we sit by his bed and sneak out once he’s asleep.

We’ve been doing this for long enough now that we occasionally leave before he’s fully asleep and he actually stays in there, yawns and talks to himself, and FALLS ASLEEP. BY. HIM. SELF! I seriously never dreamed this day would come!

Sleeping through the Night!

For so many months we had prayed (along with our friends and family) for the wisdom to help our boy sleep through the night. I am so thankful that this prayer has been answered!

I don’t believe it was just a matter of age, him growing up, that made this drastic improvement. This change happened over night as soon as we implemented the last of these gentle sleep strategies.

As you can tell by the length of this post, baby and toddler sleep problems are a really complex issue. If you and your toddler are struggling with sleep issues, I want to encourage you to hang in there.

Every kid is different, and what works for one will certainly be different than what works for another. If these ideas don’t work for you, keep searching.

11 Ways to Help Toddlers Sleep Through the Night

So, assuming you’re an exhausted sleep deprived mama like I was, here’s a recap of the 11 gentle sleep techniques I mentioned in the ridiculously long post above:

1. No Cry Sleep Solution
2. The Baby Book and The Baby Sleep Book
3. Organic cotton sleepwear
4. Breastfeeding Elimination Diet (See Dr. Sears’ Baby Book)
5. Support a healthy immune system: multivitamin, fish oil, and vitamin D
6. Take care of food allergies and sensitivities
7. Protein and coconut oil
8. Epsom salt baths
9. Magnesium oil lotion
10. White Noise (box fan)
11. Predictable bedtime routine

Doing my research while I was so exhausted was tough. And the prolonged sleeplessness led to severe adrenal burnout for me that I am still trying to fight my way out of.

If you try out the tips above and aren’t seeing results, please get help for the health of you and your baby.

I pray you too will find a restful night’s sleep soon!

What gentle methods have helped your toddler fall asleep and stay asleep? Share your story in the comments.

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Isn’t getting your toddler to sleep through the night the holy grail of parenting?  Getting baby or bigger kid to sleep seems to be the greatest parent struggle to date.

Wishing your kid would sleep through the night?

I’m sorry to disappoint… but this mama definitely does not have all the answers. (Ahem, see this article on our toddler sleep problems.)

Because, well, every baby, toddler, and child is unique. And your situation is, of course, different from my situation.

But there is still value in learning from one another, don’t you think? Maybe your situation is different from mine, but it’s pretty similar to this other mama. And when it comes to getting babies to sleep and toddlers sleeping through the night, we’ll try just about anything, amIright?!

So I gathered up some awesome mom friends who each have first-hand experience with bedtime battles and getting kids to sleep through the night – and are happy to share what worked for them!

Now, let’s see what tips and advice they have to get your kids to sleep & sleep through the night…

This post has affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy.

First, a quick disclaimer: This kids sleep advice should not take the place of baby and child sleep safety guidelines and guidance from your child’s pediatrician. See the American Academy of Pediatrics Sleep Guidelines and the CDC’s Safe Sleep for Babies recommendations for more information.

How do you manage bedtime & help your child sleep through the night?

Hit PLAY on the video to see the top sleep tips first!

1. Consistency is Key
“If my boys go to bed at the same time every night they sleep better.” Malia of Playdough to Plato

2. Use a Holistic Approach
“A healthy diet, a good amount of daytime sleep, a consistent daytime and bedtime routine, lots of love and cuddles, and positive sleep associations…” Katherine of Creative Playhouse

3. Get in a Routine
“I loved the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth. It was a great resource with my son, but not a fix it book. Having a consistent sleep/nap routine has been great for us. My preschooler still isn’t a great sleeper, but isn’t as terrible as he used to be.” Kristina of Toddler Approved

4. Make Sure Expectations are Age-Appropriate
“Let them get older…(OK, that’s not too helpful, lol)” Alissa of Bounceback Parenting

5. Have a Pre-Bed Ritual
“A proper wind-down routine (bath, story, singing, prayer) helps us.” Anna of The Imagination Tree

6. Try an Earlier Bedtime
“If bedtime is a challenge, and your child resists and stays awake in their room until all hours, try putting them to bed an hour or so earlier than you normally would. Chances are, they’ve caught a second wind, and are re-energized, but if you put them to bed earlier when they’re actually tired and ready for it, you may be surprised at how smoothly bedtime goes” Jackie of Happy Hooligans

7. Encourage More Sleep During the Day
“I find that if my son gets plenty of sleep during the day he sleeps well at night.” Adele of Playful Learners

8. Or Cut Back on Naps
“My two oldest didn’t sleep through the night until I cut out their naps during the day. The pediatrician shook her head at me when I told her at Priscilla’s 3-year visit she didn’t take naps. But Priscilla goes to bed at 7 pm without any fits, has no trouble with sleep through the night, and gets up at 7 am happy. I must be doing something right!” Krissy of B-Inspired Mama

9. Try a Reward Chart
“I recently introduced the reward chart (which you can see here) to my 2.5-year-old who was asking for water 2 to 4 times per night. She has water by her bed but wanted us to give it to her. I told her we are always there for her if she is scared or needs us, but water she needs to get herself. She now finally sleeps through! Makes such a difference to us all!” Maggie of Red Ted Art

10. Watch for Signs of Tiredness
“Good sleep habits start young. Don’t leave babies to cry, but instead set the stage for good sleep. Watch carefully for sleep cues and wind a tired baby down immediately.” Allison of Learn Play Imagine

11. Use “Nighttime Indicators”
“It is important to keep a routine and special ‘nighttime’ indicators. Bath, drink, teeth, prayers, bed. If we go off sometimes he has a hard time falling asleep. The indicators for him are a giraffe that makes a bubbling noise, teddy, and we always darken the house right before he goes to bed.” Gina of Connecting Family & Seoul

12. Make Sure Their Tummy’s Full
“My kids’ bedtime routine has always included a healthy snack and cup of milk. At least if they do have trouble getting to sleep or don’t sleep through the night, I know it won’t be because they are hungry.” Krissy of B-Inspired Mama

13. Try White Noise
“Bedtime routines and white noise have been our saving grace and by 5 months he was finally sleeping through the night. There are free apps out there for white noise. We just bought an inexpensive white noise machine for his room.” Jennifer of Plain Vanilla Mom

14. Use a Fun Night Light
“JDaniel doesn’t like to go to sleep. We got him a night light that shines the solar system up on the ceiling. He likes looking up at the planets from his bed now.” Deirdre of JDaniel4’s Mom

15. Try (Safe) Co-Sleeping
“There is no one strategy that works for every child. I was anti-co-sleeping until I had my daughter. She has a high need for physical touch at night, and it was the only way to get her and keep her asleep. Though, if you are co-sleeping make sure you use safe practices.” Rebekah of Finding the Golden Gleam

16. Turn off Tech
“No screen time post-bath. Dinner, bath, bed. Routine is key.” Marnie of Carrots are Orange

17. Light a Bedtime Candle
“When Master D is washed and our teeth are brushed I say ‘let’s go light your bedtime candle’ and so far (after a few months) he excitedly goes to bed! And while I light his candle he gets into his pj’s. Before blowing out his candle I ask if he would like to tell me one thing. Sometimes he tells me he loves me or about his day or toys.  Then he blows his candle out and settles down for the night.” Kelly of Happy Whimsical Hearts

18. Try Quiet Play or Reading in Bed
“My kids have an early bedtime for their age. But they know they can quietly read books in bed (using a small camping lantern) until they’re tired. I’m happy they are getting some reading in, and they always get tired and fall asleep earlier than they expect. They even know that if they can’t sleep through the night, they can try reading quietly until they’re tired again.” Krissy of B-Inspired Mama

19. Dream Feed
“Dream feed. Feed your baby just before you go to bed. Do your best not to stimulate or wake him, just nurse. Once I started doing that around 7 months my little guys consistently let me sleep through.” Allison of Learn Play Imagine

20. Invest in a Video Monitor
“We use a video monitor. This means when he cries or makes a noise in the night we can look at the screen and see if he is okay. I think this makes us less anxious and we pause for longer before going in to  him.  This gives him a longer chance to self-settle without us barging in on him and properly waking him up.” ‘Goblin’s Mama’ of Taming the Goblin

21. Think Outside the Crib
“My biggest advice is to not make them afraid of their cribs. We started with a sleeping mat on the floor. My son would roll around on the mat with me right there beside him until he fell asleep. Once he got comfortable with the sleeping mat, I moved him to the crib. I stayed in the room, folding laundry or reading, occasionally rubbing his back or patting him. Eventually, he would roll around until he went to sleep. Once he learned to go to sleep on his own, when he woke up in the night, he could put himself back to sleep, so I didn’t need to get up. If he couldn’t put himself back to sleep, I knew there was a problem.” Kristin of Sense of Wonder

22. Avoid the “Bad Words”
“I tell my son he can ‘read’ to himself in bed. That way, I’m not saying he has to ‘go to sleep.’ I let him ‘read’ with the light on for a while, then turn it off, and he usually falls asleep pretty soon after that. I also use this technique some days at nap time, since the word ‘nap’ can lead to resistance.” Jennifer of The Good Long Road

23. Keep Lights Low & Voices Calm
“When one of my kids can’t sleep through the night and wakes up, I try to remain calm, keep my voice quiet, and keep lights off or low. I don’t want to have them become stimulated and even more awake, which would just make my job of getting them back to bed more difficult.” Krissy of B-Inspired Mama

24. Don’t Watch the Clock
“Don’t look at the clock when they wake up or count how often they wake up. It doesn’t change how much they wake up, and you just feel more stressed.” MaryAnne of Mama Smiles

25. Know that Every Child Is Different
“From a twin mummy perspective, I would say recognizing they are individuals and as such probably have different sleep needs and patterns! Once I figured that out we utilized the space we had and gave them separate sleeping areas (forget about the nicely designed twin room!!). This way I wasn’t running in as soon as one made a sound in case they woke the other.” Jodie of Mummy Musings and Mayhem

26. Ride Out the Stage
“Everything is a stage. The baby that wakes up all night may turn into a wonderful sleeper once older (mine did).” Bethany of No Twiddle Twaddle

27. Don’t Blame Yourself
“I had a sleep expert out to the house and she went over everything we were doing and told me my kids just weren’t sleepers…” MaryAnne of Mama Smiles

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More Helpful Parenting Tips:

• 10 Better Baby Sleep Tips You Need Tonight!
• Parenting Survival Mode: 11 Tips from Moms Who’ve Been There
• How to Discipline & Manage Behavior
• Advice for a New Mother-To-Be

This post has affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy.

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What parent hasn’t uttered those words? But where exactly is the land of sleep? For some toddlers it takes a lot more than the sandman to help them find the way. The average toddler, defined as 18 months up to age three, requires about 12-14 hours of sleep each day, although some get by on much less. Most toddlers start with two naps, one in the morning, and one in the afternoon. By age 2 ½ most have given up the morning nap.

GIANT Travel Tip: Get In First Class

Studies show that a human’s growth hormone is the highest in the night.” In fact, by 30 months toddlers have gained about four times their birth weight, grown an average 2 to 2 ½ inches per year and acquired most of their baby teeth.

Remember though, there are times when sleep issues don’t stem from the toddler but from family expectations. Parents who are overworked or who face job changes may need the child to sleep so they themselves can get some rest, but children will sleep when they are tired, not when the parent is tired.

In order for your child reach the Land of Nod, try these techniques:

• Keep meals, snacks and playtime hours consistent.
• Avoid sugary or caffeinated products before bedtime.
• Start bedtime routines like teeth brushing and sips of water earlier to avoid rushing, which is counterproductive to winding down.
• Create a calm environment before bedtime. Dim lights. Turn off the television or loud music.
• Make sure your child is properly dressed for the season: cool for the summer, warm for winter nights.
• Allow your child to look under the bed and in the closets to be assured of a safe room that is monster-free.
• Sing hymns and pray.
• Offer a back or head rub.

How To Pick The Right Backpack For Your Child

How To Get Your Toddler To Sleep was originally published on elev8.com

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