Ask Dr Miriam

QMy three-year-old grandson is still having trouble sleeping. My son and his wife are like zombies. Is it normal for children of his age to have problems sleeping?

AIf your grandson is happy, comfortable and tired, problems falling asleep are likely to be behavioural, such as bedtime resistance, or environmental, like noise.

Most children can fall asleep within 30 minutes at bedtime if they’re in a good mood. Between the ages of two and three about a third of children still wake up during the night on a regular basis. So your grandson isn’t that unusual. By the age of five only about one in 10 children have disturbed nights frequently. However, a child may wake and go back to sleep within seconds many times during the night and this is normal. Children have their deepest sleep during the first half of the night and are most likely to remain settled in that period.

By the time a child goes to school they can self-soothe back to sleep after a natural night waking so there’s light at the end of the tunnel.