Common Sleep Issues At This Age

Bedtime Battles and Delaying Sleep

As your child begins asserting independence, they may resist bedtime altogether. Requests for "just one more story," another drink, a trip to the toilet — or sudden outbursts — are all part of testing limits. Even once in bed, they may struggle to switch off and wind down, turning bedtime into a lengthy, exhausting process.

These battles are often a mix of overstimulation, overtiredness, and emotional pushback — and with the right approach, they can be gently navigated.

Worries and Anxiety at Bedtime

As their imagination develops, so do night-time fears. Your child might become afraid of the dark, monsters, or being alone. These anxieties can appear suddenly and are often triggered by changes in routine, a new environment, or things they've seen or heard during the day.

Reassurance is important, and so is helping your child feel more confident and secure at bedtime. Understanding their fears and supporting them with consistent routines can go a long way.

Needing You to Fall Asleep

It's very common for toddlers and preschoolers to rely on a parent's presence to fall asleep. They may want to be cuddled, held, or have you lie beside them — and while these moments can feel comforting, they can also make it more difficult for your child to settle independently or return to sleep on their own after waking.

These associations can be gradually shifted with slow gentle strategies that support your child's confidence and ability to self-soothe.

Night Waking and Bed Swapping

Waking in the night and seeking comfort is common at this age. Your child might come into your bed, call for you to stay in theirs, or ask for help settling back to sleep. These patterns can become habitual, especially if your child is dealing with fears, overstimulation, or recent changes in their life.

While understandable, these frequent disruptions can affect everyone's sleep — and over time, they can be harder to change without support.

Waking Up Too Early

Some toddlers and preschoolers start their day as early as 5am — or even earlier — despite still being clearly tired. This early rising can leave the whole household feeling drained.

There are several reasons why your child might be waking too early. It could be due to an overly late bedtime or a nap schedule that's no longer working. In some cases, children may develop an early sleep phase — meaning their internal clock prompts them to fall asleep and wake earlier than expected. Without the right support, this can easily become a pattern that's difficult to shift.

Early rising can also happen during nap transitions or following a developmental leap. And for some children, genetics and natural chronotype are key factors — they may simply be wired to be early risers and trying to solve the problem by pushing bedtime later can backfire. Rather than helping them sleep longer, it may actually shorten their night, increase sleep deprivation, and trigger a cycle of overtiredness, elevated cortisol, and even earlier waking.

We can help you untangle what's driving your child's early rising — whether it's biological, behavioural, or both — and gently guide you toward strategies that align with your child's natural rhythm, so your family can get more of the rest you need.

Nightmares

Vivid, scary dreams are a normal part of early childhood, but they can feel incredibly real and frightening for your little one. Nightmares often start to appear in the toddler and preschool years — a time when imagination is blossoming and your child is becoming more aware of the world around them.

As emotional understanding and memory develop, children begin to process experiences through their dreams. Stressful, exciting, or overstimulating days can increase the likelihood of nightmares. Watching something even mildly scary on TV, overhearing an adult conversation, or listening to certain stories can all feed into these unsettling night-time experiences.

Children usually wake fully after a nightmare and may call out for you or come into your room. They may be upset and have difficulty settling back to sleep. At this age, they may not yet be able to clearly explain what frightened them — but they need comfort and reassurance.

If nightmares are becoming frequent, a calming bedtime routine, avoiding scary or overstimulating content before bed, and talking gently about any worries during the day can help. Sometimes, making sense of big emotions during daylight hours can reduce the need to process them during the night.

Occasional nightmares are part of normal development, but if they're happening regularly or affecting your child's sleep long-term, we can help you find gentle, age-appropriate ways to support them and ease their night-time fears.

Night Terrors

Night terrors can be unsettling to witness — your child may suddenly sit upright, cry out, appear distressed or confused, and seem inconsolable. Unlike nightmares, night terrors usually happen during the first few hours of sleep, when your child is in a very deep stage of non-REM sleep. During a night terror, they may have their eyes open and look awake, but they are not fully conscious and often won't respond to comfort in the usual way.

These episodes are more distressing for parents than for children, who typically have no memory of them the next day. Night terrors are not caused by scary dreams — they're more like a glitch in the transition between sleep stages.

Although they can be dramatic, night terrors are usually harmless and children tend to grow out of them over time. The best thing you can do in the moment is to stay close, make sure your child is safe, and wait for the episode to pass — trying to wake them or intervene too much can prolong it.

If night terrors are happening frequently, we can help you look at your child's sleep schedule, bedtime routine, and any underlying triggers to reduce their occurrence and restore a more peaceful night for everyone.

We Can Help!

Sleep support that evolves with your child — and meets you where you are.

Sleep challenges in the toddler and preschool years can feel overwhelming — and if you're here, you may already have tried everything. Often, it's the small details — the timing, the sleep environment, or underlying factors like diet, development, or medical issues — that make all the difference.

Genetics also play a big role in how children sleep — some are naturally early risers or later to sleep children, and no one-size-fits-all solution will work.

Whether you're dealing with early starts, bedtime battles, or frequent waking, we're here to help you make sense of it all and guide you toward gentle, practical strategies that truly work for your child and your family.

Get in touch to find out how we can support you.