Any parent will be able to testify to the fact that if a child does not sleep well at night then the repercussions for them and you can be tough. There are various things you can do though to reduce the risk of this from watching what they eat to the use of good bed guardrails.
So let's have a look at some of the better ways of increasing the chances of a good night's sleep for your child.
The first one we would recommend is to keep an eye on what your child eats and drinks during the day and particularly the nearer it gets to bed time. The intake of sugary foods and drinks can cause them to have a rush of energy and can therefore keep them awake when they first get to bed. If they take a while to drop off to sleep that can then have a knock on effect to the rest of the night's sleep.
In the same way that food might give them a burst of unwanted energy prior to bed time it is also wise to steer clear of activities that might get them very excited and full of energy. The nearer it gets to bed time then the more relaxing the activities so that the child can begin to prepare for quiet time and sleep. It may be that you have them sit still and watch a DVD and then you take time out to read them a nice relaxing story in bed before tucking them in and saying goodnight.
You should also think about how you can ensure they stay asleep once they have fallen asleep. This can be done be ensuring you have good bed guardrails fitted. These are usually fitted when a child moves from their cot to their first big bed and are effective at stopping your child from rolling out of bed and waking themselves up or even hurting themselves at worst.
So with a bit of thought and care over what they eat and drink, what they do before bedtime and the use of children's bed guards you should find that they sleep much better.