Posts Tagged "sleep"

There are a lot of misconceptions about sleep. One that I frequently encounter is the idea that children need to be exhausted before they can fall asleep. Most of the families I work with are well informed about the importance of establishing a set bedtime and following a routine leading up to “lights-out.” Unfortunately, their little ones don’t always comply. Among infants, parents frequently report their little ones are either...

Twice a year around Daylight Savings Time I find myself muttering, “fall back, spring forward,” just to make sure I’ve got my head (correctly) wrapped around the time change. It’s “fall back” this time around, so we’re about to set our clocks back one hour. Theoretically, that means we get an extra hour of sleep! Theoretically, yes. Realistically, no. Realistically, we’ll be helping our little ones through the time change before we...

Until a few days ago you had a miracle baby. Your little one slept like a champ, logging dreamy daytime naps and nice, long stretches at night. That newborn phase wasn’t so bad! But what is this? We’re talking overnight change from a little angel to a fussy, unpredictable mess. Your once-amazing sleeper is suddenly wide awake for hours on end; a nap might last 20 minutes, if you’re lucky; you’re cluster-feeding your way through the...

Imagine yourself seated in a roomful of other parents. If asked whether you were secretly worried about your baby dying, would you nod or raise your hand? How about checking on your child before you go to sleep to make sure he’s still breathing? Do you do it once? Two times? More? Are you afraid to leave his room? Talking and even thinking about death occurring in the same time frame as the miracle of birth can be overwhelming....

It’s a crummy feeling, really, walking into your little one’s nursery only to find them soaked up to their chest in urine. And here you were ready to celebrate 12-plus hours of uninterrupted nighttime sleep!   Leaky diapers are more than a pesky clean-up – they’re downright sad.   And if you’re like most parents, it doesn’t take but one or two wet wake-ups to set you on an all-out search for the gold-standard of leak-proof...