Question
Is it ok or not for my daughter to read a book (self-sooth) when she wakes up in the middle of the night/early hours, OR solely stick to your recommendations on meditation and breathing?
One last thing, what to do when she comes into my room, which is every night?
1. Walk her back to her room (me stay too?)
2. Let her get in our bed
3. Have her lie down on a cot next to our bed until it’s time to wake up for school?
It’s hard for her to fall back into sleep.
Answer
I would not recommend for her to read in the middle of the night.
That is something we do as adults because we are motivated to get back to sleep
A young child’s brain will get distracted in the reading and cognitive expansion of what reading feeds the brain.
What to do when she goes to your bed… depends on your long term goal, if your long term goal is for her to sleep in her own room, then walk her back to her room. Sit next to her and hold her hand to help her get back to sleep.
Do this for three weeks.
Most times the safety of knowing you will help her when she wakes up makes her brain release its anxious energy and she will sleep through the night.