Sleep Training Part 1: Four essential things to remember so you don't lose your mind!
Parent’s need their kids to get a good night’s sleep just as much as children do, to ensure their own needs are being met, and to get some freakin’ time alone, okay?! GOD! Just go to bed!... pleasssseeeeee. BUH!
In part one of our four part sleep guide, we cover 4 essential thing to keep in mind before you start sleep training.
1. Remember: All families are different
What suits one family will not suit another. Some parents are happy for their babies to stay up late and to wake frequently. Other parents find their child’s night waking difficult and want to make changes.
2. There is no 100% right fits-all approach when it comes to sleep
Some sleep training techniques are gentle and are unlikely to upset children or their parents. These techniques can take hours every evening to implement and may take several weeks to be effective. Other sleep training techniques are likely to involve some crying which may get worse before it gets better. These can be distressing but are usually effective within a week and can be helpful when parents want a major change.
3. Sleep training techniques can be adapted to the different places your baby sleeps
Some babies sleep in cots at night, others sleep in their parents’ beds. Babies may have daytime naps in slings, bouncy chairs, prams, Moses baskets. Different techniques can work at different times in your child’s life. What worked when they were a baby may not work when they are four years old.
What are some of your bedtime challenges?
4. YOU ARE NOT ALONE: 1 in 3 children under the age of 5 years old has a sleep or bedtime problem.
Moving a child to a new bed, habits they developed as infants, testing limits, refusing to go to bed, or taking their sweet ass time… these are ALL common bedtime challenges.
Think over the past month, what problems have you faced?
- Going slowly to bed
- Nightmares
- Refusing or complaining
- Crying, calling or screaming out
- Refusing to sleep by themselves or in their bed
- Getting out of bed
- Waking up at night
- Coming into your bed
- Waking up siblings
- Always needing “another drink,” to “pee again”
How can sleep improve my mental health? It almost seems too good to be true: the idea that taking care of your physical health could have an impact on your mental health?!?! But, if you think about it, it makes all of the sense in the world.