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.