Parenting Foundations Sleep Solutions with Brenda McSween

Help my baby won't sleep! This was a common statement from our moms that joined us at Baby Basics to hear from Brenda McSween from Parenting Foundations. Brenda spent some time talking to our room full of moms about their concerns, questions and gave them reassurance that things will be OK.

The moms heard about 'sleep props', are you using one? should you be using one? how to avoid the cycle of using one.

Brenda has some great tips on "sleep props" in her blog article found here:

http://parentingfoundations.net/2013/10/sleep-props-mean/

Need some tips for a successful night of sleep for your little one? Here is Brenda's 5 helpful tips for you to help get your child to sleep through the night:

Step 1: Choose an early bedtime.

The best time to put your child to bed is sometime between 6 and 8 o'clock in the evening. This ensures that your child will be able to get a solid 11-13 hours of sleep during the night. (And yes... that is how much sleep children should be getting every night up until the age of about 10.)

Step 2: Put your child to sleep in the same place every night.

Whether your child has a room of their own or shares a room with parents or siblings, it's important that you put your son or daughter to sleep in the same place every night (and for naps during the day as much as possible.) Putting your child to bed in a familiar place lets them know they are safe and that they are in a place where sleep is expected of them.

Step 3: Create a predictable bedtime routine.

Consistency and predictability are really important to children. When they know what to expect at bedtime, it makes it *much* easier for them to make the transition from waking to sleeping - and that's why creating a bedtime routine is so important!

A good example of a bedtime routine might be something like this:

6:20 p.m. Bath time

6:35 p.m. Put on pajamas

6:40 p.m. Nursing or bottle (NOTE: Do NOT let your child fall asleep while feeding!)

6:55 p.m. Story or songs

7:00 p.m. Into crib or bed

Your bedtime routine shouldn't take more than about 45 minutes, and it's VERY important that the routine is the same every single night. The repetition and predictability are what let your child know that he or she will soon be expected to fall asleep.

Step 4: Put your child to bed AWAKE!

If you've been rocking, nursing, or otherwise soothing your child to sleep, this is going to seem like a tough one... but it's actually the most important step! It's only by letting your child fall asleep WITHOUT your help at bedtime that he or she can learn the skills necessary to stay asleep through the night.

Step 5: If your child wakes up during the night, wait a few minutes before intervening.

Everyone - children and adults alike - will actually wake up several times every night. For most adults, these wakings are so brief that we don't even remember them the next morning. However, many babies will immediately start to fuss or cry when they wake up.

This is simply because they haven't learned how to fall asleep on their own. If a child has been nursed or rocked to sleep at bedtime since birth, it's not surprising that they wouldn't know how to fall asleep independently. The good news is that many children can figure out how to get back to sleep within just a few minutes of waking up in the night!

Have questions? Brenda offers a FREE 15 minute sleep evaluation to help you determine if a seminar is right for you, 403-461-2955