Category Archives: Baby Sleep

Baby Sleep 0-18months

Baby Sleep, Child Behaviour, Child Sleep, Sleep Products, Toddler Sleep

Why is my child suddenly waking at 2am?

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Sleep is a very complex issue. Just when you think you have this gig sorted, your child begins to wake up again. There can be many explanations for this but sometimes the simplest answer can solve the problem. Is your child getting cold?

With summer gone, autumn brings unpredictable weather. Some nights it’s hot and you’re sweating, other nights you contemplate getting the electric blanket out.

As adults, we can regulate our temperature pretty well. When falling asleep we may have the fan on, then somewhere during the night we turn it off and pull the blankets up. Our children cannot do this for themselves. Keeping a regulated room temperature throughout the entire night is difficult and usually impossible to achieve. Here are some tips to help with the change in weather to prevent those 2am wake ups.

1. Use a sleeping bag but now increase the tog (blanket weight). Most sleeping bag companies will give you a guide as to what sleeping bag to use for each bedroom temperature. Not all houses are the same so choose the right one for your environment.

2. Choose what you dress your child in for sleep carefully. Choosing the correct sleeping bag tog is important but so is what you clothe your child in. Though the aim is prevent your child from waking up from the cold, you also need to make sure you are not over heating them either. Layers and full-length pyjamas will be needed soon.

3. If it is hot when your child first goes to bed, put a fan on. When it is time for you to go to bed, turn the fan off. Leaving the fan or air conditioner running all night will wake your child because they will get a chill.

4. If it is going to be a cooler night, also consider safely tucking in a lightweight wrap/blanket over your child when it is time for you to go to bed. Only use cotton or muslin wraps that are breathable as many other wraps can cause over-heating. Babies control their temperature through the face so it is vital that you follow all the recommendations for safe sleeping here to prevent the increased risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

So preparing your entire family for the cooler weather can prevent very early morning wake ups. Sometimes though it is a bit of trial and error.

Sleep Well,

Janelle Jeffery

Child Sleep Consultant for Sleepytime
Child Sleep Consultant for Sleepytime

 

 

Baby Sleep, Child Sleep, Sleep Training Methods, Toddler Sleep

Do you want nap time success?

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Mastering naps can be tricky.
Mastering naps can be tricky.

Almost all parents at some stage of their child’s life find naptime difficult. Some naptime issues include:

  • Your child needs your help to nap;
  • Your child finds it difficult to fall asleep at all; or
  • Your child only catnaps.

There are many more nap problems that I haven’t included here but these are definitely the most common. If you are experiencing difficult naps, here are my tips for better nap time success:

1. Sleeping independently

This is a big one. What I find is if you are helping your child to fall asleep (rocking, patting, feeding, dummy, bouncing etc) to sleep, often these sleep associations have an expiry date of usefulness. With a newborn the rules are different. Feeding to sleep was fine, but eventually that will stop working for you, so you move on to say, rocking to sleep. Now your child is too heavy so you change to patting. Suddenly you realise that your ‘bag of tricks’ is empty and your child still isn’t sleeping on their own. Now it is time to place your child into the cot completely awake without your help so they can begin to establish their own tools to fall asleep. Easier said than done right? If you need some help, contact me here.

2. Provide a ‘sleepy’ environment

Again, newborns can usually sleep anywhere. Once your baby passes this newborn phase, it is important that the majority of the time they are sleeping where it is dark and fairly quiet. If you have a noisy house during they day, white noise can help. Try to make the room as dark as you can. Why? Darkness helps the body to produce melatonin that makes us sleepy. The temperature of the room needs to be on the cooler side (not cold). If you cannot change the temperature, dress your child in lightweight clothing. If your child is too hot, it is harder to sleep.

3. Send the message it is “sleepytime”

Most parents have the bedtime routine down pat, but forget to send the same message at nap time. Your child needs the cue that it is “sleepytime”. It may seem obvious to us the cot is there, so it must be “sleepytime”, BUT babies need time to unwind and understand what is happening at that moment.

Here is an example of a nap routine:

  • Go into the bedroom
  • Change nappy
  • Sit and read a quick story
  • Kisses and cuddles
  • Say “it’s sleepytime”
  • Into the cot awake

4. Allow time to resettle

Some children’s cries will go from nothing to hysterical in less than a minute. When your child wakes up after the first sleep cycle (30-45mins), he will cry out and you will run in immediately. This is part of being a responsive parent right? Yes totally but the problem with rescuing your child so quickly is that they are still tired and not finished napping. This is the reason they are so upset. Your child really wants to sleep more but they are not sure how too. If your child isn’t falling asleep independently at the beginning of the nap, then clocking on to the next sleep cycle without your help is difficult. Don’t be afraid to wait a little to allow them the chance to fall back to sleep. Always listen to the cries and if there are breaks, then just wait a little. If you are needed, try for 10-20mins to extend the nap by offering some gentle touch. This won’t be easy at first, but the more you do it, the better the chance you will be successful.

Combating naptime struggles are often frustrating and exhausting for not only you, but also for your child. Naps do take a lot of time to perfect, and just when you think you have it all sorted, it is time for your baby to drop a nap. If you wonder if your child is ready to drop a nap, download the “Sleepytime Guide to Mastering Nap Transitions” here.

Sleep well,

Child Sleep Consultant for Sleepytime
Child Sleep Consultant for Sleepytime
Baby Sleep, Child Sleep, Parenting, Toddler Sleep

Is your child a fussy eater?

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It can be exhausting when your child refuses to eat.
It can be exhausting when your child refuses to eat.

 

This week the hot topic of conversation with my friends and clients has been regarding eating (or lack of) amongst our children. There is always great concern about trying to encourage our children to eat more. I work with parents to help their children learn to love sleep, but time and time again I am seeing a link between fussy eaters and poor sleepers.

Two common causes of children not wanting to eat are; too much milk and lack of sleep.

MILK

Milk is a great food source so I am not here to persuade you to stop giving it to your children, but what I want to highlight is how it can impact on lack of appetite.

Imagine you had two large milkshakes a day. How much solid food would you be able to consume during the day after that? My guess is not much. If your child is drinking copious bottles of milk during the day and night, then chances are they are not that interested in much else. Milk is drunk quickly and easily and it makes you feel full for a long time.

With the many families I have worked with, once we reduce or even eliminate the milk during the night, we observed an almost instant increase in appetite during the day. This all depend on the age of the child of course.

Breast-milk or infant formula should be the main source or nutrition for the first 9months of age. After this time, your child should be eating “three meals a day and the frequency of milk feeds is beginning to decline,” Mererilinga (2011). By 12months of age, many babies substitute breast-milk or infant formula with cow’s milk. Regardless of which form or milk your child is offered, by this time solid food becomes more important.

It is important to note that drinking lots of cow’s milk is not necessarily a good thing. “In fact, milk makes it harder for the body to absorb iron and can contribute to iron-deficiency anaemia”. Kid’s Health.

So how much is enough? Well, it is all about balance. It is recommended that toddlers aged between 2-3 years have 1.5 serves of dairy a day. It should come from a variety of food sources, not just milk. Raising Children Network.

If your child is having multiple milk feeds or bottles during the night past 8 months of age, chances are they are not only full during the day, but they are not getting enough sleep.

 

LACK OF SLEEP

A tired child will not want to eat. As adults, the more tired we are, the more we tend to eat. In my experience, I find the opposite happens for many children. If a child is tried, they do not want to sit there at the table and eat a full meal. It is too much like hard work.

If your child is tired, offering them an early dinner is far more beneficial than stretching them out to their usual set dinnertime. If you do try and delay dinner, chances are you will have a battle on your hands and your child will refuse to eat. Offer an occasional 4:30pm dinner to ensure they have enough energy to eat.

If your child is up multiple times during the night, and certainly if they are still taking milk during the night, I would bet that they are not interested in eating breakfast. You want your child to wake up in the morning feeling refreshed and HUNGRY!!

 

Case Study

Often too much milk and lack of sleep go hand in hand. Last year I worked with Amelia (15months) who was still taking up to 4 breast-feeds in the night. She never wanted breakfast and she was a picky eater throughout the day. Once we cut out the feeds in the night and she starting sleeping through, Amelia’s appetite increased ten fold. Her parents could not believe in just two nights how hungry Amelia was in the morning and she was eating a huge breakfast.

If your child is a fussy eater, monitor how much milk they are consuming in a 24hour period. Also monitor their sleeping patterns. Below is a guide to the average amount of sleep your child should be having each day.

 

Age Hours of Sleep per 24hrs
Newborn – 3 months 16-18 hrs
3 months – 6 months 15-16 hrs
6 months – 12 months 14-15 hrs
12 months – 3 years 13-14 hrs
3 years – 5 years 11-13 hrs

 

Healthy eating and healthy sleeping are crucial to helping your child develop the best way they can. If you are concerned about your child’s food intake, consult a child nutritional professional or your doctor. If you are concerned about your child’s lack of sleep, visit here.

 

Child Sleep Consultant for Sleepytime
Child Sleep Consultant for Sleepytime

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Janelle Jeffery

Baby Sleep, Child Sleep, Sleep Products, Toddler Sleep

5 Hot Tips to Summer Sleep Success

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Summer is fast approaching so before we know it we will have our aircons on full blast and sweat dripping down our faces, legs other??? Ewww. Summer also means a very full social calendar and longer days filled with endless daylight. Have you already noticed a change in your child’s sleep? I sure have!

So this got my brain ticking and my fingers typing. Here are my 5 hot tips for summer sleep success.

DSC00548

#1 Consistent and Predictable Routines and Schedules

It is so important that you approach bedtime they same as you would any other time of year. If bedtime is 700pm, stick to that time. (Note – if you have daylight savings, then move to the new time as quickly as you can then stick with that schedule.) With social events filling the diary, it can be tempting to stretch out bedtime or forgo daytime naps. Once and a while this is okay, but the less sleep your child has, the more difficult sleep will become overtime.

 

#2 Dark, dark, dark

Whether you have daylight savings or not, at the end of the day we are all trying to get our children to sleep when there is daylight. Make sure your child’s room is super dark. Darkness helps to trigger the pineal gland to release melatonin into the body. Melatonin makes us sleepy. If you do not already have block-out curtains, purchase a blackout blind like the “Gro Anywhere Blind”. These are removable and can be taken with you wherever you go.

 

#3 Drink lots of water

When our bodies are dehydrated, it can interfere with sleep. If you are flying, drinking lots of water reduces the effects of jet-lag. Adults should reduce alcohol consumption and children should avoid sugary drinks.

 

#4 Keep an eye on the temperature

Before bed, make sure your child is engaged in quiet activities. If your child is running around, their temperature will increase making it harder to fall asleep. It is just like exercising before bed.

As the temperature during the night dips, if you run a fan or air-conditioner in your child’s room, they may wake from feeling cold. Set a timer if you can and stop it before midnight.

 

#5 Do not engage in the battle of the wills

Older children will question “Why do I have to go to bed, the sun is still up?” Yep it sure is. Sticking to your guns and not engaging in an argument is important. Referring back to Tip #1 and Tip#2, if you are 100% consistent with your routines and schedules, and you darken the room as much as possible, this will help your child to fall asleep.

School age children may go to bed a little later over the summer holidays but 2 weeks before school returns, begin to transition them back to their usual bedtime.

 

So enjoy these summer months. I love this time of year as it is all about spending time with love ones, being outdoors and BBQs!! Yummy!! How about you?

 

Sleep well,

Janelle Jeffery

Child Sleep Consultant for Sleepytime

About Janelle, Baby Sleep, Parenting

Perfect Parenting, is there such a thing?

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perfectparentToday, parents put an awful lot of pressure on themselves and each other to be these super parents who do everything and anything perfectly. When we don’t follow the exclusively breastfed, bamboo wearing, organic growing lifestyle, we are judged by everyone around us.

I came to the conclusion very early on that it doesn’t matter what wonderful things you are doing with, or for your child, someone is quick to tell you, you are doing something wrong. The media has a lot to answer for. It is a lot of pressure to conform and so I beg the question, why are mum’s so hard on each other?

My saving grace was my awesome local mother’s group. I must admit, I was nervous attending as I could just imagine all these mum’s sitting around comparing prams, outfits, how long their child slept for, how ‘easy natured’ their child was and who was the first to smile, roll, sit etc. Argh!!!

In fact it was the opposite. We talked about how hard things were, the sleepless nights, the painful breastfeeding and the loss of freedom. It was so refreshing to be around like-minded mums who were all there for support and friendship, and not judgement or competition. Not all groups are like mine, so if you are not happy with yours, look for another one!

The difference between ideal parenting and real parenting is interesting. It all started for me with an emergency c-section instead of a vaginal birth. From there, after six extremely difficult months attempting to breastfeed, I finally accepted that it just wasn’t what my body was meant to do. Having a reflux baby who projectile vomited all day and everyday meant I WAS one of those mum’s who left the house with vomit on her clothes. Reality is far from the beautiful picture of motherhood I had in my head pre-baby.

At the end of each day I could reflect on all the things I didn’t do, or things I could have done better OR I can pour that gorgeous glass of wine as I cook baked beans in the microwave and think- I am a great mother, who loves her daughter so very much. I am doing the best that I can!

Cheers and let us celebrate how awesome we all are!

Sleep Well,

Janelle Jeffery