All parents of toddlers have witnessed the full body flailing of their enraged child. It is something to behold. Kids definitely don’t hold back when they’re angry or upset! This can be disconcerting to the parent, but even more disconcerting is when your toddler repeatedly bangs her head against the wall or the sides of her cot or the floor for apparently no reason at all. Read more
hmmmmm thumb sucking habitI get a lot of emails from people whom are interested in working with BabyWinkz asking about my thoughts on thumb sucking. Generally their question are similar to this: “Judy, I’ve noticed she’s started putting her thumb in her mouth as her way of self soothing. I don’t know if I should be encouraging it, discouraging it, what should I do?” Read more
Answer The Question For Mummy…This is a question I often asked my first born daughter when she was a toddler. I asked it in a sweet voice, I asked it in a pleading voice, I asked it in an angry voice, but no matter how many times I asked, she never gave me the answer.
I can remember the night— and some of you will know exactly what I’m talking about— when I felt like I could not take it anymore. My daughter just would not stay asleep and I had hit rock bottom, exhausted from waking up multiple times every night and having to soothe her back to sleep. My husband found me at 3:00am in the morning crying away in our living room… my baby won’t sleep Read more
Hmmmm does this sound familiar…
It’s the middle of the night. You’re in a dark living room and singing “Rock a bye baby…” while you’re rocking your baby in your arms. You’re exhausted, but you’re also terrified to put him down for fear that the second his sweet little head touches the pillow, his eyes will fly open and you’ll have to start all over again. Read more
Cot / Crib Jumping Toddler
My daughter Jannah jumped out of her cot when she was 2 years old, it came as quite a surprise, all of a sudden my child who was so happy to settle at bedtime and sleep 12 hours a night had decided to jump out of her cot as soon as we left her room! How we dealt with this was key to overcoming this phase. We went back to her and as she was hysterical we calmly comforted her and told her it was bedtime, we placed her back in her cot and left her room, she then went to sleep. She did this for another few nights but we had by then placed cushions around her cot to make it safe and each time we just calmly placed her back in her cot. After a few unsuccessful attempts she eventually realised that we were not changing bedtime rules and stopped her phase of cot jumping and went back to happily going to sleep at bedtime and sleeping 12 hours through the night. Read more
Happy Christmas
“My baby won’t sleep” is a typical comment from lots of parents. However, all babies are different and sometimes the unintentional behaviour of parents can make it difficult for babies to learn self-soothing techniques. As babies get older they begin to self-soothe at night – that is, they settle back to sleep on their own. In this article we’ll look at the importance of self-soothing and offer some tips to help your baby learn to self-soothe, giving you all a better night’s sleep.
For newborn babies, the world is a scary place and our job is to reassure and comfort them. Tiny babies often fall asleep during a feed but when they wake they can be distressed and we soothe them back to sleep, perhaps by singing, cuddling or rocking them.
Around the age of three to six months, many babies begin to self-soothe. They still wake at night, perhaps several times, but they realise they are in familiar surroundings and settle quickly. It’s been found that self-soothing babies generally sleep longer each night, and get longer unbroken periods of sleep too, so helping your baby to self-soothe is really important when it comes to regulating baby sleep patterns.
However, when a baby cries at night and is immediately picked up and cuddled, they don’t get the chance to learn to self soothe, and this results in endless broken nights for parents.
Self-soothing isn’t something you can teach your baby but you can help them learn this important skill.
A regular bedtime routine is really important when trying to establish good baby sleep patterns. Be consistent with bedtime, and include three or four soothing activities, such as a bath, a feed, a cuddle, and a story or song. Keep the lights in the bedroom low and place a special toy or comfort blanket in the cot at night. This will create a unique atmosphere that your baby will soon associate with bedtime.
Many parents enjoy the closeness of a cuddle and feed at bedtime, but if you always put your baby to bed once they are asleep they’ll never learn how to self-soothe. Try putting babies to bed when they are still awake, being aware of their surroundings will help them to self-soothe when they wake at night. Many babies grizzle when you put them to bed – don’t immediately lift them from the cot, but give them a few minutes to settle on their own.
If you know your baby is not hungry or distressed leave them for a few minutes to see if they will settle themselves. If you need to comfort them, try patting them or stroking them rather than lifting them from the cot. If they learn to settle without being cuddled they will find it much easier to self-soothe in the future.
Sometimes babies are overtired at bedtime and they find it impossible to settle on their own, so it’s worth bringing bedtime forward by half an hour to see if this makes a difference. But ultimately self-soothing is just another stage of a baby’s development. Just as babies learn to crawl and walk at different ages, they learn to self-soothe at different times too. If your baby is not able to self-soothe now stop and try again in a week or even a month’s time.
As this is the last post before Christmas, I hope you, your family, and your friends have an enjoyable and festive day.
regards
Judy
As parents, we want to see our children healthy and happy. There is nothing that grieves you more than when your child is in pain and you can not do much to help. My daughter Chloe suffers from Asthma and has done since she was born, she has a constant cough and in the winter a continuous cough, which carries on throughout the night. The nights I have had to tend to her and give her medication, she takes it and always goes back to her cot with rarely any fuss. But it is upsetting to see her this way.
When your baby is ill, they are often fussy, uncomfortable, and have difficulty sleeping. The regular nighttime routine will be flipped upside down and previous soothing techniques will not work. For example, your baby who has started sleeping through the night may suddenly start waking up several times or a baby who loves the car may scream all the way home.
Colds, diarrhoea, and fever are just a couple of illnesses that can be caused by harmless viruses and tend to go away on their own. Babies are born with some of their mother’s immunity to illness, further enhanced by breastfeeding; they are not immune to ever-changing viruses. If you are unsure or worried about your baby’s health do not hesitate to check with your physician.
When a child is sick, sleep is a key ingredient for their recovery. When you have visited your physician/doctor when ill, after prescribing medication they always advise you to get plenty of rest and sleep, this same principle applies to children.
Here are some useful tips to help you deal and prepare with your infant during illness
1. Monitor
To understand when your baby is sick, you have to understand what they are like when well and that is what a parent knows best. Nobody understands their child more than the parent or primary child’s career. To understand if your child is ill or if they are recovering, monitor daily their temperature, behavior, temperament, intake of food and liquids, interactions with others, and sleep patterns. These indicators are the best tell-tell signs.
2. Medication
Depending upon the age of your infant, there are only a few over-the-counter medicines allowed, consult your physician and /or pharmacist to ensure you are prepared and fully stocked. Some parents prefer the “Ole Wife’s Tale” style of medicine which is the use of only natural products such as a teaspoon of honey. Do your research and consult a medical professional first, as these could be harmful if an incorrect dosage is administered or the child is not the correct age to be consuming the ingredients.
3. Thermometer
There are various locations where the temperature of a child can be taken and internet research can give lots of different answers all citing to be the correct “average” temperature of your baby. As a general rule, a temperature of over 37.5 (99.5F) is a fever. The word “fever” can scare and petrify the hearts of any parent. It means “an elevation of body temperature above the normal and is a sign of illness,” such as viral, bacterial, or other types of infection. A fever is not an illness on its own.
There are now various thermometers available on the market and can be very baffling.
4. Room Temperature
The ideal room temperature is 16-20ºC. 18ºC (65ºF) is perfect. An infant sleeping in a room that is too hot has an increased risk of Cot Death and SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). It can be very difficult to estimate the room temperature, so using a room thermometer in the rooms where the baby sleeps and plays is best. To help cool a room, open a window and close the curtains or use a fan, but do not place it directly onto your baby.
Use sleepwear for babies and not t-shirts or other daytime clothing, as baby sleepwear should be fire-retardant. They should never be sweating or hot to the touch, especially in the hands. If you use blankets, loose or soft bedding, tuck it snugly along the sides of the mattress. But not any higher than chest level and a baby’s face should never be covered during sleep. Be sure that you do not tuck blankets so tightly that the baby cannot move. The most appropriate coverage is a “Baby Sleep Bag,” are wearable blanket with armholes and neck openings. They help the baby stay at the right temperature through the night without the problem of traditional blankets and sheets being kicked off or getting tangled up. There are various sizes according to your child’s age, weight, and length. Available in various designs and Tog ratings (describes the level of warmth in a product) and can be worn throughout the year.
5. Food and Drink
A child may not have much of an appetite when sick, so increase their fluid intake to prevent dehydration and constipation. Avoid undiluted sugary drinks such as juice and carbonated drinks, as these can worsen digestive illnesses. Keeping your baby hydrated is very important as dehydration can cause complications and may result in hospitalisation. Monitor for a decrease in urine production, lack of tears, dryness in the mouth and sunken eyes as these are indicators of dehydration.
Once your child has started to recover returning to the bedtime sleep routine, is a benefit for the whole family. Continue to monitor your child, give them medication as and when needed and watch their temperature. Every child needs consistency, rules, and expectations to live by, so they know what is expected of them on a daily basis. They will grow up learning responsibility and understand consequences, therefore less likely to push boundaries.
Certified Sleep Consultant in tunbridge wells, maidstone, west malling, kings hill, tunbridge wells, London, uk.