How do you manage your family's sleep struggles? Share your tips and stories below - £200 voucher to be won

[MaddyMumsnet]

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Sleep struggles are a common challenge for many families, whether it's getting little ones to settle, or dealing with night wakings. From establishing bedtime routines to soothing techniques, we want to hear what has helped you and your family get a better night's sleep. Whether you've tried gentle sleep training methods, incorporated white noise, or discovered the magic of a bedtime story, your insights could make all the difference to another Mumsnet user.

• Post your stories/items/challenges/tips in the thread below to be entered into a prize draw
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Our Baby Sleep Event is here to guide you through the sweet dreams and restless nights. Discover an array of essential products and expert advice tailored to help your little one drift into peaceful slumber. From cosy sleepwear to bedtime feeding, Boots is your trusted partner in creating the perfect sleep routine. Navigate the journey of parenthood with confidence, knowing that we're here for every sleep-deprived moment. You can also enjoy 8 Advantage Card points for every £1 spent on Baby when you join Boots Parenting Club.

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I think routine is essential, and winding down, to help calm the brain, when you get a wake night, we try to settle calming, and get into bed to settle, then creep out again once he has settled. We have stickers for staying in bed all night. As for the baby stage - take it every day at a time - every night is different , just feed when necessary, put down calmly after a feed and winding, and if you have a sleep deprived night, have a nap when baby does during the day. Try to keep to a routine as much as physically possible.

Babies do make you feel how we took for granted a full nights sleep for sure. My advice is to be calm and patient - I know how hard this is when you are exhausted, but it will pay off, if you make bedtime a drama and you loose patience or say the wrong thing, it will lead to months of bedtime resistance to sleep. My tips are a calm environment, bath, a soothing voice, and a white noise speaker to give them something to focus on rather than the world around them. When they do wake take it in turns to soothe them back to sleep then you are not both exhausted.

For babies - just go with their needs, they wake because they are uncomfortable of hungry, just make sure they are winded properly and have a clean nappy with barrier cream always used. For toddlers, napping in the afternoon may no longer be required, so they are not tired at bedtime, set boundaries for bed time, use blackout blinds for the early mornings and late evenings, and reward staying in bed and settling themselves off to sleep.

I managed by creating a nursery with calm colours, clouds on the ceiling, a thermometer so I knew it was at the perfect temperature, blackout curtains (also noise reducing) with a carpet so we can walk around without being heard. We have a white noise speaker, and not too much stimulation inside the cot, we have a wind down period after being ourdoors for a walk if we can.

Our daughter struggled to get to sleep without an adult sitting with her. We discovered the Koko Sleep sleep and meditation podcast for kids. It's absolutely changed bedtimes for her. Also she would often wake in the night and disturb us, we bought a super king bed and now she can slip in without disturbing us

I found that sleep training my oldest child was the only thing that worked. She was just over two, and her brother had just arrived
The Ferber book saved my sanity and DD started sleeping through the night within three nights.

What worked for me was spacing out feeds during the day then making the evening feed as big as feed as possible or do cluster feeding. I did a mixture of bottle and breast feeding with my 3 DC. I often put them bed awake unless they fell asleep during their feed. They slept 7 hours at 8 weeks and 12 hours at 12 weeks and woke up a couple of times per year if they were teething or poorly.
As they got older the routine continued and quiet/calm play and listening to a story were added. From about one I gave them each a blanket and this become the sleep signal. As soon as they got the blanket, they’d rub their eyes, yawn etc and want to go to bed.

After struggling with a 6 m.o who woke every 2 or 3 hours I found the Ferber Method, It was had persisting but it paid off- we rarely have a broken night now - and when we do there will be a reason behind the calling out for us.

Mine have a comfort blanket which they take to bed, following winding down after nursery and school, we try to play out in the garden or park for fresh air and exercise after dinner. We used a white noise player when they were much younger and that seemed to work.

For me routine worked, with tea at 4, bath at 5, milk at 6 and bed at 7, with lots of reassurance and making their bedroom a comfortable quiet and loving place to be. I try to stick to my routine as much as I can with blips for illnesses and the clocks going back/forward which takes us a week or two to get back to a civilised bedtime and getting up.

No electronics an hour or more before bed except if doing a meditation. Some reading and quiet time as well and a regular bedtime and wake up

When I got a weighted blanket for my 4 YO it was a real step towards sleeping through the night. Along with winding down properly, a dark bedroom with lovely furnishings which they want to be in.

The most important aspect of getting your baby to sleep through the night is having them learn to self-soothe to sleep. Put your baby down to sleep when they are drowsy but still awake. Babies need to be able to fall asleep independently so that they can self-soothe when they wake in the middle of the night.
Wind down by being quiet, have a bedroom at the right temperature, I used a soother and dummy which my child was able to find and comfort his self really quickly.

I used the check and console training technique that does exactly what it sounds like. After putting your baby in their cot, you can return to their room to check on them – regardless of whether they’re crying or not. Go back every few minutes and give your baby a gentle pat or stroke and offer some reassuring words, then leave again.
Slowly increase the length of time between your checks until you reach about 15 minutes. Monitor your baby’s response to this technique to make sure they’re not becoming over stimulated every time you check on them. They know they feel secure with this method I felt.

My tips are to follow your babies sleep rhythms and follow them for the first three months, by which time feeds should be more spaced out, and night feeds lengthening. Try to get them to sooth themselves back to sleep by stroking and whispering in their cot. If baby is ill, this will put their sleep routine out of kilter, but bear with baby, keep a routine, and it will return with your patience.

Babies’ sleep can be affected by daylight and their body temperature. Time spent in daylight, especially in the afternoons, seems to help babies to sleep for longer at night. Take them for more walks in the daylight, keep them warm and dry in inclement weather, and make a distinct mood change between day and night in your home, in terms of interaction, noise and curtains being drawn.

A bedtime routine. We've always had one with our children so they know what to expect and what to do and when.
Wind down with a bit of TV or a game, upstairs to get pjs on, brush teeth, read, toilet, bed.
Usually around the same time every night too.

For our sleep struggles, we took it in turn whenever our 3 YO woke, and it took an age to settle her, we put a blow up mattress in her bedroom and when she woke tried to get her, and resorted to getting sleep on her floor in her bedroom - managed to get sleep that way. We spoke with her, after 3 or 4 months of this as to how uncomfortable it was for mummy and daddy to do this (it wasn't we actually got about 8 hours sleep 4 hours in our bed and 4 hours on the mattress) she agreed to let mummy or daddy go back to bed, and things got easier.

After weeks of broken nights after a seemingly routine of waking once for a feed, it settled down after soothing and reassuring, and keeping the cot in our room so DS could see us at night. We moved him into the nursery with lots to comfort him at 9 months, again using the soothing method, going in every 10 -15 minutes until he went to sleep on his own - much patience is needed. I love all of the good advice above for later years so thank you Mumsnet

Don't do a bath, it riles mine up rather than relaxing them!

Also drowsy but asleep is the biggest load of bollocks ever. Just put them down when fully asleep!

My tip would be to invest in a side sleeper cot, so you can settle them in their first few months without getting out of bed and having you fully wake up. I found this really helpful to settle them after a feed, change and winding.

I love reading my ds and dd stories that I loved as a child, whether it's Wind in the Willows or the Famous Five, not forgetting Beatrix Potter stories or Winnie the Pooh. Once they started school our routine is reading a page from a school book together then one chapter snuggled up together in bed with a cup of milk. This works really well as it makes bedtime fun and something they actually look forward to and it's a great way to wind down - for all of us!

My 8 month old has a sleep bag and drifts off to lullaby music. I also like lavender spray.

Plenty of exercise and sunlight during the day and a super king size bed for the cheeky toddler who sneaks in!