Your Child’s Sleep in Sickness and in Health

You did it. You weren’t sure if your child would ever sleep in their crib (or stay in their bed) all night, but you finally got your little one on a rockin’ schedule. You’ve taken your victory lap (hello, wine!) and then… the flu smacks you in the face (your child’s flu that is). ‘Tis the season!

Side note: If you want to hear about my family’s recent flu adventures, including our first middle-of-the-night ER visit, as my little Ainsley battled the flu, I recorded it for you. click here to get the recording

So, your little one is sick… now what?

I’m sure this will come as no surprise, but I’m pretty militant about my children’s sleep. We are those “crazy” parents who leave an afternoon party early to ensure our kids are in bed on time and work our schedules around naptime .

It’s pretty hard to convince me that my kids should stay up late or skip a nap. It’s even harder to convince me that they should sleep anywhere other than their own beds.

EXCEPT when they are sick. When my babies are sick, all the rules go out the window. I’ll sit in a chair holding them while they sleep, bring them into my bed, give them drinks during the night, etc. I let that little worrying voice in my head takeover and do whatever I need to do.

And then, when they are well again, they get put right back in their rooms and get right back on their schedules.

So, what should you do when your child gets sick?

Here are my tips for handling your child’s sleep through illness:

1. Give them the opportunity to sleep in their bed on the right schedule. Some kids will just sleep off what ails them (no joke!) and that’s best done in their own bed. I like to always give them a chance to do that. That being said, if I’m worried about leaving them alone, I do what feels best. Extra tip: If there is any congestion involved, keep a cool mist humidifier in their room. I actually think it’s ideal to keep it running every night during the winter. 
2. Don’t jump right to the highest level of extra support. Examples: bringing them into your bed or nursing them back to sleep. I like to start with rubbing their back while in the crib or rocking them in the chair to see if I can get them back to sleep in their own bed. If that doesn’t work, I continue to move on up the support ladder until I can get them comfortable.
3. Try to keep naps happening. If you can keep them on their nap schedule, that’s a huge bonus. They may be getting additional sleep during the day beyond their typical naps, but it’s ideal if they can also sleep during their regular naptime.
4. Don’t stress about undoing your little one’s sleep training! If you know in advance how you plan to get things back on track and you follow through on that, you’ll be fine. It can all get sorted back out when they are healthy again, so try not to worry too much about the sleep!

What to do when they are healthy again:

1. Get them back on their schedule stat. As soon as your little one is healthy again, don’t waste any time getting them back on their healthy sleep schedule. The longer you wait, the more resistance you’ll likely face.
2. For the 2 year old+ little ones, give them a heads up. If your child is old enough to understand, explain that they are better now (Yay! Tell them how happy you are they are feeling better!) and then let them know that everyone needs to go back to sleeping in their own beds now, falling asleep without mommy there, etc.
3. Quick sleep training reboot. It might take a few nights of a sleep training reboot to get them back on track and that’s totally normal. If you used a particular method to get your little one sleeping before, go ahead and use that same method again. If you’re consistent, it will likely only take a night or two for things to fall back into place.

To hear a recording about how sideways sleep got in our house when the flu struck and how I got it back on track, click the button below. 

Ainsley’s Flu Story