If your child continues to have difficulty with sleep at night, it is important to first rule out any physical or medical issues that may be interfering with sleep. Next, parents may want to explore the timing of their child's sleep. Is bedtime too early so your child just isn't sleepy? Is it too late and your child has become too irritable, too overtired, and as a result is having a hard time calming down?

Dr. Lewin says that parents can also use time during the day to rehearse what will happen at bedtime.

Kirk Otto, a father of two from San Antonio, Texas, developed a fun way to review the bedtime routine with his own children. Together they run through the schedule for the night, which begins with going potty. Otto will ask "What's after that?" and his children will call out "pick out a book!" After each response Otto again asks, "And what's after that?" until they run through the whole routine – "go potty, pick out book, get into bed, read story, hugs and kisses, love you, night-night!" This rehearsal is a great way to help a child understand expectatins and make bedtime more predictable and fun.

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