1 Sleep Habit To Add, and 5 To Avoid
Image: Josh Applegate
The start of a new year is a good time to think about habits. Do you have the routines, timing, and environment that lead to the best sleep possible, or are you hanging on to certain sleep habits that are getting in the way? Here’s one habit to focus on, and five to let go:
Add This To Improve Your Baby or Child’s Sleep:
Update your child’s bedtime routine
In our sleep consultations, we VERY often see that parents are doing a routine that their baby or child has outgrown. It makes sense, we get attached to the way we do things, but kids grow so fast, sometimes we miss when they’re ready to move on. For example, if your baby is at least 5 months, let go of the feeding and rocking right before bed - they don’t need it anymore! - and replace it with play time, books and songs. If your preschooler’s routine is taking an hour, it’s likely that you’re overdoing it and it’s time to pare down. Bedtime routines should feel enjoyable and manageable, not cumbersome. Changing routines and sleep associations is surprisingly easy if you have a comprehensive plan in place (the Sleep Wave and other Happy Sleeper tools will get you there).
Avoid These Common Sleep Stealers:
Adding more
Sometimes when sleep isn’t going well, we add things. Nightlights, another stuffed animal, another lovey, longer songs…
Sleep is natural and keeping it simple and predictable is the best approach. When we try to improve sleep by adding too many elements in, it can actually get in the way. In our sleep consultations, we usually end up taking things OUT and creating a minimalist sleeping environment, and a clear, sleep-friendly routine.
Counting the hours
There are certain parameters for sleep that are good to hold. Babies over 5 months and little kids do well with 11 hours of night sleep, for example. But especially when kids are little, it’s easy to get too caught up in tracking numbers when other factors are more important. For example, we normally tell parents to let go of counting how many minutes and hours of sleep a baby gets during the day, in favor of watching their awake spans instead. Knowing that your 4 month old baby is ready for a nap after 90 minutes of awake time is a more helpful rule of thumb than counting up the total number of nap hours in a day.
Some of what you get in the 4-24 Month Sleep Class:
Overhelping
You can feel it when you’re starting to work harder and harder at bedtime. Bouncing, rocking, feeding a baby to sleep beyond the age when they need it (5 months), or staying in the room with a young child until they fall asleep and then sneaking out. The new year is a great time to kindly hand over the job of falling asleep to your capable child. This is how they will get the very best sleep possible. If you need help with this part, the online classes or a sleep consult are the best option.
Turning up the heat
When temps are chilly, let nature do the work for you, because colder air is healthier and better for sleep. With the air temperature in the 60’s, we sleep more deeply and wake less often. Of course this means you have to bundle up with either warm PJ’s, layering on a fleecy, footed pj on top of thinner cotton pjs (for babies and toddlers), or blankets (for kids and adults).
Going to bed too late (we’re talking to you!)
After the kids are asleep, it’s understandable to want your own time, especially if you still have work to do. But you’ll feel better the next day if you protect your own sleep. Turn your phone off, stop checking your social media and go to bed at the right time. That extra 30 minutes of sleep YOU get every night will add up to 2.5 hours of sleep at the end of the week.
Make this a year you feel confidence and ease around your whole family’s sleep.
After watching this class, you will have a clear sleep plan for your baby to sleep through the night. If you implement the Sleep Wave in an organized and consistent way, night sleep often improves in 2-7 nights.