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The Holidays and Traveling

11/9/2017

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Living away from family requires travel time. It also requires planning, packing, and patience. So, when we have 2 large dogs and a tiny human in tow, we must make sure everyone is accounted and accommodated for the trip. This will be our 3rd Thanksgiving as a family of 5 (dogs included). By now, we are packing/traveling professionals. There is a system and a schedule we abide by to keep our little one’s naps in the car and at Grandma’s, but sometimes things don’t work out the way we planned.
We do our best to plan long drives during a scheduled nap time, in the hopes of catching some ZZZs. And, even though sleep in motion is junk sleep, it’s still better than a meltdown upon arrival. One off day or weekend won’t break a solid routine, but we must be cautious to avoid staying out of routine for too long. I’ve been asked many times, especially as the holidays draw near, what would be some advice as we take to the skies or open highways?
During the most wonderful time of the year, it’s important to try to keep to our little one’s daily sleep schedule the best we can, especially to compensate for those very special days that come but once a year. We don’t have to skip out on the festivities if we take care to have well-rested babies leading up to our family get-togethers. So, to get through the worry, here are a few questions to assess your own child:
  1. Is your child fairly adaptable?
  2. Is your child able to handle an “off” day here or there?
  3. Is your child well-rested day to day?
If you answered yes to these questions, then go ahead and enjoy your holiday visits and go with the flow. Try to stay on a loose schedule with events and do your best not to get to that overtired zone.
If you don’t think your child could handle an off day of sleep, or you fear the days to follow, maybe consider different holiday plans. It’s ok to show up late and it’s ok to bring a pack N play and set up in the spare room. Be sure to remember the white noise machine.
As an alternative, maybe you offer to host! You could still see your family and munchkin can sleep in the comfort of her own bed. Or bite the bullet, chance the holiday, and know that your child will be cranky for a few days to follow. Do your best to get back on schedule and use your method of choice. Consistency is key.
Here are some tricks and tips to help during those long flights or car rides where a nap will, inevitably, occur:
  1. Bring your child’s favorite blanket/lovey/security toy
  2. Download a white noise app on your smartphone
  3. Bring a crib sheet as a car seat canopy if your tot has outgrown the infant carrier. It fits well over the top of the convertible seat and the front seat headrest and blocks out most sunlight so that your child can rest peacefully.
  4. You may need to compensate with an early bedtime to make up for the travel nap.
The most important take-away is that this won’t be permanent! Babies grow and sleep needs change. Perhaps you will miss out on some holiday fun and homecomings this year, but next year you can be ready to go with an older, wiser tot who will, no doubt, be the center of attention.
 
Happy Holidays!                   
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Spring Ahead ---> !

3/9/2017

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Daylight savings  can be a stressful time of the year for many families. As we head into the summer months, we turn the clocks forward 1 hour to preserve our sunlight into the evening. As  parents, we tend to dread the following morning, not knowing what to expect of our children's wake times.​ For example, you may find that those pesky early risers  wake an hour later in the morning, maybe at a more appropriate wake time (we're talking those cute 5am up and at 'em types).  Sounds perfect, right? WRONG. Sorry, mamas, but that sunlight is going to creep earlier and earlier into your morning until  BAM!  Hello again, 5am.  
It's OK!  There are a few solutions  to help your munchkins transition smoothly.  
  • You can do nothing. See what happens and roll with the punches. Let your child sleep in an hour later and adjust meals, naps, and bedtime, accordingly.  
  • If you've got a more sensitive sleeper, you can start shifting your child's schedule earlier by 15 minutes  each day leading up to Sunday morning. If she normally wakes at 7am, wake her at 6:45am, then 6:30am, etc. Don't forget to adjust her meals and naps, too. 
  • Keep your child on a 1 hour later schedule. She will wake at 8am instead of 7am. However, she may adjust back to her usual schedule, anyhow. Routines and day/night cues can be difficult to  fight. As Dr. Weissbluth said "you can't fight circadian rhythms."

Children with healthy sleep habits should have no problem shifting their schedule naturally, but here are a few actions we can take to help facilitate a smooth schedule shift: 
  1. Expose them to sunlight. Get outside! Sunlight has an amazing affect on the brain. Exposure to sunlight stops the production of melatonin, the brain's natural sleep aid. This will help reset your child's circadian rhythm with the changing time. 
  2. In the evenings, limit  screen time and dim the lights. Make your child's environment conducive to sleep. 
  3. Similarly, make sure the  bedroom  is  DARK. Blackout shades will help with the early morning sun and allow her to sleep a little longer in the morning. 
  4. Follow through. Just changing the bedtime hour will prolong the adjustment period. By setting cues for  her body with the new wake time and meal times, you will set her up to successfully shift her schedule ---> 1 hour ahead! 
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Sleep Associations: the good, the bad, the learned

3/2/2017

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Sleep associations are the core to how we fall asleep and stay asleep. As adults, we may require a closed door, pitch black room, cool sheets, the fan on, white noise, etc. When we fall asleep at night we expect everything to be just the  way we left it when we wake in the morning.  If something is out of  whack, we have trouble falling asleep.  Similarly,  babies naturally  associate certain conditions with naps and bedtime and, as parents, we must strive to make  their environment conducive  for sleeping.   
Sleep is a learned process; the sooner a baby learns to fall asleep unassisted, the easier changes will be on them and their parents. Healthy sleep habits do not necessarily have to come from tough love. A small child can be taught to associate sleep with positive activities, such as a story or a calming bath.  The concern for the child’s emotional development is very real for every parent and if modern society allowed parents to practice a proximal care style, there would not necessarily be a need for children to cry themselves to sleep at such young ages. However, human biology plays a role in how infants learn to fall asleep. They develop associations with every new stage in life; sitting in a high chair means food time, putting on shoes means time to go outside. They will associate their parents for sleep rituals and be unable to return to sleep by themselves. If we, as parents, never give our children the opportunity how will they learn?
A baby can be taught to self-
soothe from the day they are brought home from the hospital. Just the simple practice of laying them down when they shows signs of tiredness will allow them to drift to sleep, unassisted. But, for children who have never been taught to self-soothe, the process can be temporarily upsetting. Depending on the temperament of the child, the parents’ concerns, and the child’s sleep deficit will determine which sleep training method will work the best. But the older the child, the harder it will be to disassociate old routines, use softer methods of sleep training, and create new healthy sleeping habits. 
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NAPS by age: 

2/2/2017

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  • 4 to 8 months old: 3 naps a day, Nap 1 and Nap 2 should be long while Nap 3 is considered a cat nap less than an hour.
  • 8 to18 months  old: 2 naps a day,  morning and afternoon, both a minimum of 1 hour long. 
  • 18mo  to 2.5 years old:  1 nap a day,  2-3 hours long. 
  • 2 to 3 years old: 1 nap a day that starts to shorten in time. 

You may wonder "my baby is only 6 months old and she's  only taking 2 naps!"   All babies are different and not every child will keep her third nap. Similarly, not every child will transition to one nap  at exactly 18mo of age. As babies turn into toddlers, their brains are still developing and their sleep needs change at different ages.  You can help by tuning into their sleep cues  and periods of wakefulness.  
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