Successful Napping

All children, up to the age of 4 years, should have daytime sleep as well as night sleep.

Daytime sleep is as important to small children as night sleep.

Every child has a sleep requirement which we can calculate by looking at the age and stage of the child and the parents own sleep requirements. This is true because sleep is partly genetic and partly learned.

Newborn babies sleep an average of 18 to 20 hours a day. As they grow and develop they have periods when they can be happily awake, aware of their surroundings and interested in the stimulation this provides.

At 3-4 months babies can usually cope with 1-1.5 hours of alert wakefulness. As they get to the end of this concentrated stimulation they become restless and signal a need for sleep. To achieve a sucessful nap parents have a very small window of opportunity to get baby settled in a warm and comfortable place so that the baby will use the nap opportunity and sleep.

What  are the basic requirements for successful naps?

1) Daytime sleep in normal ambient daylight; Obviously direct sunlight on baby's face may be too strong to allow the baby to go to sleep, other than shading baby's face no attempt need be made to completely darken the room.

2) Keep houshold noise at normal daytime levels; Baby has heard noise all the time inside mum. Silence is more concerning and makes sudden loud noises more startling.

3) Recognise your baby's sleepy signals and act quickly to give your baby the opportunity to relax and sleep.

4) Ensure that the room baby naps in is a comfortable temperature and that baby's temperature can be comfortable too. When we sleep our temperature naturally drops a degree or two. Sleep is more easily accomplished when we are comfortably warm and out body temperature can be maintained.

5) Offer regular opportunities for naps. Space them according to the age and stage of your child and make them part of the daily routine.

6) Do not try and eliminate naps in order to improve night sleep. This does not work and will leave you holding a very cranky baby.

Children who do not have enough sleep are irritable and confrontational. They can go into "overdrive" as they get beyond tired and struggle to remain awake. Although every child, just like the adults, have slightly different sleep requirements, the minimum length of time for a nap should be 45 minutes as this allows  completion of 5 stages of sleep.

Naps shorter than 45 minutes are "catch up" sleep. A short "catch up" in the car or stroller should not interfere with the normal sleep routine.

If you miss the opportunity to get your child down for a nap, or if they resist your attempts, don't persist longer than 30 to 45 minutes. If you have been trying for 30 minutes or longer to settle your child for a nap, abandon that nap time and offer another opportunity later.

Most children will settle within 5-20 minutes. If this doesn't happen it is usually because there was too great a delay or the opportunity was offered too early.

If you struggle to get your child to nap contact us here at; Dream-Angus.com We will be happy to help support you in improving your child's sleep.

Preventing Sleep Problems

In infants as young as two months, a definate sleep wake cycle has been demonstrated. Traditionally it is expected that from about three months of life, infants have a recognisable sleep wake pattern. How can parents help infants to develop an understanding of a good sleep pattern?

Babies learn to tell night from day when they are offered naps in normal ambient daylight with normal household noise. Your infant has listened to your breathing, heartbeat and digestion during their time in the womb. To suddenly have a silent world is strange and worrying. Background noise helps make sudden loud noise less upsetting. Don't close the curtains and darken the room at nap times.

Decide when you want your child to go to bed and when is a good time to wake up. Most families work on a 7am-7pm sleep wake cycle but there is nothing wrong with an 8am to 8pm pattern. Your child will live in your home in your lifestyle. Choose the times that best suit that lifestyle and develop recognisable routines so that your child can learn to anticipate what happens next. This makes the child secure and confident.

Young children have a very small window when they will settle to sleep quickly. Miss this opportunity and settling is a prolonged and difficult process. Learn to recognise your child's sleepy signals and to settle your child quickly.

Your routine before bed should consist of three things which you could do anywhere on the planet. These should be completed in the same order at the same time every night. Children learn by demonstration and repetition. This routine should not be longer than 30 minutes. Your child will quickly learn the order of this routine and know what is expected of them once it is completed.

Put your child down to sleep when they are calm and drowsy. If your child learns to settle by themselves you won't need to spend a lot of time with them to get them to go to sleep.

If you need help and support to teach your child to settle or stay asleep,
Contact Dream-Angus.com

Seasonal issues

At this time of year it is particularly important to ensure that our children get enough sleep. Excited children, fighting sleep in the hope of catching Santa leaving presents, seeing the reindeer, or just taking part in the more sociable aspects of Christmas and New Year make life more difficult as their accompanying sleep deficit makes them more active and often more confrontational. It is so important to have a quiet period before bed. To allow and encourage children to wind down and sleep.

At the same time many manufacturers are promising all sorts of "aids to restful sleep" and in the Christmas spirit we may be tempted to spend money on gadgets which offer this golden promise. Unfortunately there is no golden gadget which can fulfill the promise of a good night's sleep. Medication can acheive this, but who wants to become dependant on medication for a good nights sleep? Light therapy can help individuals with circadian rhythm disorders, but have little benefit for the rest of the population.

In order to acheive a good nights sleep routines of wake and sleep times are vital. Ensuring that one wakes at the same time and settles to sleep at the same time every night are the practical habits which reinforce our body clocks. Having some out door exercise in the fresh, albeit cold/wet air every day will also help. Sleep is something we learn to do. We learn by repetition and by habit, so it is important that our habits are good.

Having a quiet hour, making the last hour of wakefulness less stimulating, even boring, prepares our minds for sleep. Breathing excercises, yoga, or meditation may help adults to remove themselves from the stresses and cares of the day and quiet the mind. Children who are read to or who read or work on quiet activities are much more likely to go to bed happily than those who have had a busy time or participated in stimulating exciting activities before bedtime.

There are recognised "Good Hygiene Guidelines" which we should review and adhere to if we want our children to go to sleep and wake rested and bright in the morning.

If you would like a free copy of these contact Dream-Angus.com

Routine, Routine Routine

A number of recent studies have looked at sleep behaviours and routines in both adults and children and throughout the investigations one thing has been highlighted as singularly important, and that is, routine.

Adults have a short pre bed routine which they complete regardless of where they are, at home, away on holiday or on a business trip. We all have a short pre bed routine which cue's our individual body clocks. This is our reminder to ourselves that it is time to sleep, time to rest and renew so that we can face the coming day. Adults can rationalise their behaviour, children are at the mercy of their parents.

We are our children's teachers and teaching children the cues to help them sleep and rest at appropriate times is one of life's important lessons. Children learn very early in life to expect certain things to follow from parents actions. Routine is part of a child's security in the environment and helps the processes of learning about the world and one's place in it. Children associate certain actions with outcomes and as they grow and gain awareness they find reassurance in the stability of home through the routines learned there. This makes the pre bed routine particularly important because if it is a good routine it encourages sound sleep. All is well with the world.

Children who have no regular pre bed routine are slower to relax into sleep and often wake regularly in the night. Sleep deficit in a child makes for confrontational behaviour, poor concentration and increased irritability. Some children who have had a long history of sleep deficit are even occasionally misdiagnosed as having Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Yet, once a simple pre bed routine is introduced and maintained, all the irritations of living with a sleep deprived child dissappear and an altogether much more social and pleasant being emerges.

The greatest difficulty for adults seems to be the introduction and maintenance of such a routine. This is why it is so much easier to start building a routine with a young child, even at 3-4 months children can recognise the difference between night and day, which makes this is a very good time to start a pre bed routine.

If you have a child who has a sleep deficit contact Dream-Angus we can help you resolve the issues and improve your child's sleep.