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1. Neglecting the evening routine
The secret to smooth bedtime is a consistent evening routine. Make sure that these certain routines are happening at roughly the same time and in the same order every day. Dinner –bath – bedtime story – and finally lights out remains important even into late childhood years.
For your babies make sure that they are not rushed and takes at least an hour or more if you have more children. The key word is calmness.

2. Inconsistent bedtime
Take bedtime seriously! Nothing terrible happens if, on rare occasions (like Christmas), your baby or young child goes to bed later—but don’t make a habit of it.
Aim for an earlier lights-out time. There’s a reason our parents said children should be in bed by 8 p.m. Early bedtime ensures better sleep for them and gives parents a bit of private time too. 

3. Leaving the cot too early
Many children are moved to a toddler bed around 18 months, and in many cases, this disrupts a previously well-functioning sleep routine. The child doesn’t really understand what’s expected in the big bed. At night, they may roll off despite bed rails or start wandering.

4. Overly active evenings
Wrestling, chasing, and play fighting are very important for emotional health and parent-child bonding—but try to do these during the day. A child who is overstimulated in the evening won’t magically calm down and fall asleep.

5. Training the child to need silence
Many families switch to whisper mode once the child falls asleep, like avoiding any noise-producing activities so they don’t wake up their baby.
This actually doesn’t help in the long run. Of course, don’t drill into concrete walls while the baby sleeps, but it’s worth getting them used to normal everyday sounds from an early age.

6. Putting the baby to sleep with a bottle
A baby who falls asleep with a bottle in their mouth will look for it immediately upon waking. If the bottle contains sugary tea or juice instead of milk, it can be especially harmful to their teeth—so it’s best to avoid letting a young child constantly have a bottle in their mouth during the day as well.

7. Ignoring signs of sleepiness
A sleepy baby may droop, rub their eyes, or rest their head on the floor. It’s best to respond to these signs as soon as possible and put your baby to bed. If you keep them awake longer, their sleepiness can turn into fussiness and later loud crying, making it much harder to calm them down.

8. Too little or too much daytime sleep
When your baby needs only one sleep during the day, make sure it happens after lunch, sometime between 12 and 3 p.m. They shouldn’t sleep more than three hours at a stretch. Similarly, avoid letting afternoon naps extend into early evening, as this will almost certainly delay bedtime.
For children who no longer need naps, forcing them to lie down can often cause bedtime difficulties. On the other hand, it’s also a problem if a child needs a nap but doesn’t get the chance so they may become overtired.

9. Negotiating at bedtime
This brings us back to the first point: a consistent evening routine reduces opportunities for negotiation. Requests like “just one more episode,” “read one more story,” or “sing one more song” can easily spiral out of control. Try to stay consistent and stick to pre-agreed limits as much as possible.