Sleep Like a Baby

As the saying goes, you don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone. Those words certainly ring true for parents of babies and young children whose restlessness and tears keep the Sandman away. Most sleep-deprived parents find themselves overwhelmed by the plethora of sleep advice (from Grandma to Dr. Ferber, everyone’s got an opinion) on how to solve their child’s sleep problems. Fortunately for Vancouver families, baby contentment and child sleep consultant Dawnn Whittaker of Cheeky Chops is an expert in solving bedtime and naptime sleeping habits and we’ve gathered up some shuteye strategies from her for fatigued families.

United You’ll Stand
Sleep is a personal and often emotional issue for parents and baby’s sleep habits can sometimes be a thorny marital issue. The recommendation is to have everyone sign on to an agreed sleep goal for their wakeful wonder because without consensus, children use their spidey senses to detect and capitalize on one parent’s lack of commitment to changing ingrained sleep habits.

Find Your Groove
Many bad sleep habits stem from something as simple as lack of routine. In fact, little minds take cues from repetitive events and then know what is expected of them. So, consider implementing that daily bath before your wee one goes to bed, encourage that fave pair of PJs for sleeps or read the same book night after night at the same time. You’ll be able to recite “Goodnight Moon” in your sleep before long. When children learn that these events happen before bedtime, it becomes an expected and welcome event.

Out the Crutch
We’ve all been there…driving baby around the block late at night, rocking baby to sleep or popping the pacifier back in her mouth at 2 and 3 am…and then 4 am. All of these sleep aids become bigger problems over time as children depend on them to fall back to sleep during the night and naturally become desensitized to them (now you’re driving 10 blocks instead of two). Whittaker recommends teaching your child to fall asleep in the same sleep conditions as he will be in during the night, so that when he wakes he falls back to sleep in the same setting. Getting rid of a sleep crutch is tricky business, and Whittaker emphasizes that it takes time, planning, persistence and support to correct this sleep behaviour.

Don’t Go Changing (Too Much)
We SavvyMoms know that timing is everything when it comes to making a change in a child’s world, and modifying sleep behaviour is a significant change that should be done in isolation when the family can be dedicated to making new sleep expectations stick. Whittaker suggests that sleep training should be done when there are no other major changes taking place, such as mom going back to work, potty-training or a new sibling at home. Similarly, sleep training should be approached in stages depending on how much behaviour needs to be changed. We know that a co-sleeping tot who dozes off at the breast cannot suddenly be put down in a big, dark crib alone for the night (they call them baby steps for a reason).

There’s a lot to be gained from getting your child on to a sleep routine that works for the whole family and that provides everyone with much needed rest. With some planning, dedication and consistency, the whole family will finally be sleeping like babies.

Savvy Special: SavvyMom readers get 10% off a Personal Package or Telephone Consultation Package with Dawn Whittaker until April 30, 2009 by mentioning this article when they book.

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