A baby is born into a light, bright, noisy and strange world, then we spend our time feeding, and comforting the new baby. Scientists tell us that even in the womb babies begin to have rapid eye movements (REM) which is when we all dream. You may have noticed REM with your baby and when the babies breathing changes too? Dreaming is when we store our memories so we can recall them later.
Sleep deprivation in an infant changes their brain’s ability to rewire itself and allow the baby to understand what is happening in their life, which for a young baby there is so much to learn. Sleep is so important as it supports the formation of memories and learning new things early in life. So, we want babies to sleep and dream and understand the world around them.
All babies all have different personalities, and each one reacts slightly differently to enable them to sleep. Some babies are easy and comforted in your arms, whereas another baby will continue screaming if upset. Then, it is so easy to begin to get into unhealthy habits to settle the little one (LO), which makes it difficult for the baby to learn to self-settle when they are older.
Every family has a combination of these different human personalities, daily activities, and routines, which is why
Families need unique individual sleep plans because no one sleep plan fits another family.
Busy, and well-meaning parents can inadvertently miss altering a crucial issue in their daytime routine that can make an enormous difference to a restless toddler at night. What time individuals get up, what they eat, and drink, and how they spend their time.
Sleep breeds sleep, sleep shaping helps babies learn the basics of napping and a good night’s sleep.
We all know that Bedtime problems and frequent night wakings are highly common in infants, toddlers, and pre-schoolers.
Research suggests that sleep disruption and/or insufficient sleep has harmful effects on children’s intellectual development, and on the regulation of children’s moods, also on the children’s ability to be attentive, and of course, their long-term health outcomes.
Many research studies that have followed children from early childhood to beyond aged six years have shown that little ones who have only an hour less sleep per night than their peers in their Nursery class or school are many times more likely to struggle with high scores in Hyperactivity-impulsivity (HI), inattention, and daytime sleepiness, which leads to lower intellectual or cognitive performance on neurodevelopmental tests.
Children with only 5 hours less sleep in the week when assessed were less able to express themselves verbally as well as their peers and the effects lasted well into later childhood.
And we have not even discussed the effect on parental relationships as quality sleep has secondary effects on parental and whole family functioning.
Furthermore, research studies that have followed up children over time demonstrated that sleep problems first presenting in infancy may become chronic, so lasting well into the preschool and school-aged years.
A solid body of literature now exists supporting the use of evidence-based behavioural management strategies to treat bedtime problems and night wakings in infants, toddlers, and pre-schoolers.
What is happening with your family?
Are you struggling with your child’s sleep issues and with conflicting advice?
Is your child fighting sleep, crying, and crying when they go into their cot or bed, so you are still rocking, cuddling and nursing the little one to sleep?
Are they waking frequently at night either to feed or come into your bed when they have reached the age when they can sleep through?
Are they waking early morning?
Are you struggling with bedtime fears or little ones waking in the night with night terrors?
What about delayed sleep onset disorder?
Do you have more than two children or twins with the difficulty in scheduling a routine that meets the needs of everyone?
Are you struggling with knowing how to manage their medical condition and their sleep needs?
A-B-C of sleep
All families benefit from a good night’s sleep as everyone including children can manage their emotions better and are better able to learn
Bedtime routine is so important and begins at teatime. Why teatime well, that is when the little one needs to focus on eating and practising all the skills of fine motor coordination and making a mess, especially from 6 months old onwards!
Children need quiet interactive play after tea, I know Dad comes in from work and the party can sometimes begin, but please note it is not a good idea, Dad can have fun with the LO in the bath, but it is important to keep the fun and excitement down from now on. Once upstairs children need to stay upstairs for Storytime, and no more going downstairs.
Research highlights the importance of giving a child the opportunity to sleep at least 10 to 11 hours per night throughout early childhood, and more when they are younger, so a younger baby will spend more than half of its time sleeping.
Me-time to enjoy when the little ones are in bed. You can look forward to the peace.
All you need is one to two weeks of gentle behavioural training for your little one to help their long-term intellectual development and sleeping well helps prevent obesity.
Lasting effects also include growth hormones secreted in young children during certain sleep stages which is why we need them to sleep soundly and transition through these stages
Teething, illness, and holidays can disrupt sleep patterns, but when the sleep shaping principles are back in place again everyone can sleep well.
Please contact Vicky for more help and advice for your family’s unique, individual sleep plan
Who am I and what do I do?
Vicky Scott – senior children’s nurse and specialist family health visitor, Practice teacher and now working as a private sleep consultant.
I have been through many of the challenges you are facing with your little one whilst somehow managing to juggle work and home life with 3 children as they grew from babyhood and throughout their school years.
During my NHS career, I worked with all sorts of families from pregnancy to starting school and beyond. I have a wealth of experience in child behaviour management and development, parenting, and access to expert colleagues.
Over the years I have supported thousands of families whilst providing extra support when families need it most from when they have Newborn babies up to school years and beyond.
My aim is to improve family health and relationships with better sleep for all including families when their children have all sorts of complex health conditions, including allergies.
I have helped parents manage various sleep difficulties of all types and for all ages of children. I am successful in helping parents with their little one’s behaviour challenges such as teething, mealtime battles, tantrums, toilet training and promoting children’s physical and emotional development.
My skills enable families to build on their strengths using in-depth assessment and bespoke behavioural/sleep plans for every child.
I offer a free 30-minute discovery call so we can discuss your concerns about your little one and whether I can help you. I will connect families to the right support and find solutions together.
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