I have to say that when it come to our kids’ bedtime my wife and I are very lucky. Our two daughters slept really well when they were babies. Most nights they would sleep right through to the morning. Now as they are bit older, ages 3 and 5, they are still sleeping through the night.

I have heard some horror stories about child sleep issues that keep parents up all night for weeks on end. Poor mom and dad. No sleep makes for long days at work and at home. To those sleep deprived parents, I am here to help. I have five things you need to ensure a restful night for your toddlers.

Just to be clear you need to follow these steps or your kids could wake up in the middle of the night.

1. Stuffed Animals

Pile those suckers onto your kid’s bed. The more the merrier. Pretty much you should have so many stuffed animals in there that you don’t have any room for your child to lay in bed comfortably. Oddly enough I find that if you have a wide variety of all shapes and sizes it works even better.

2. Sleeping Bags

Now these are not meant to be an extra blanket for your child. Oh no. You just simply put the newly purchased sleeping bag in one corner of the bed for no reason whatsoever. They will hardly touch the sleeping bag, but as long as they know that it is in their bed, they are sawing logs.

3. Noisy Toys

Most would think that for your child to get a good night sleep the room should be as quiet as possible. Nope. In my own experience I find my children love dolls that talk to them constantly with a push of a button. Imagine hearing “I’m Snow White,” or “That’s adorable” for an hour straight. Makes you want to rush out to the store right now and pick one up doesn’t it?

4. A Comfortable Pillow

Your child needs to rest their delicate little head on a soft and cushiony pillow accompanied with blankets, like those personalised blankets for babies. In theory it sounds logical. Even more logical is getting them bed sheets with their favorite character on them. That will entice your kid to sleep on the pillow you got them, right? We might also want to use the best odyssey blanket for their comfort while they sleep.

Again in theory this should work. Yet just like the sleeping bag all crumpled up in one corner, the pillow is kitty-corner to that sleeping bag and your child’s head is not resting on it. They are sleeping on one of the 800 stuffed animals that are in their bed. If you are lucky enough, it is a stuffed animal that makes noise.

5. Books

As adults we like to read in bed on an iPad or Nook or heck even with an old fashioned book. It seems our children don’t want to go without some form of literature either. The funny thing is that the lights are off and the night light won’t help illuminate the room well enough for your child to even read one sentence.

Just try and take the books out their bed. See what happens. My guess is that if you look to remove their books out of their bed you might hear sounds that are similar to shrieks of a banshee. Maybe it is the smell of books that helps lull them to sleep.

So there you have it. Follow those five steps and your kids will sleep through the night. Granted you might hear Snow White for an hour after you put them to bed, but they are occupied for that hour. It’s also extremely beneficial if you invest in quality bed like those So Soft Beds best for ottoman beds. Once the batteries run out or they actually fall asleep, you will find that you are the ones waking up before your kids in the morning.

Nighty-night!