Thursday, September 27, 2018
4 year old keeps waking up at 5:30 am, what we can do to get her to sleep in?
Great Question:
My 4 year old daughter keeps waking up at 5:30 am no matter what we do... with a daytime nap, no nap.... (which is unbearable) she still wakes up too early.
We have black out curtains, noise machine.... and she still wakes up like clockwork. Oh and to add her bedtime is at 8 pm.... any tips on what we can do to get her to sleep in??
Answer:
She has sleep skills. We helped her with sleep skills when she was 7 months old. So this is a typical age thing. Talk about it with her a lot. If she seems tired from not getting a long enough night, point out her cranky and frustrated feelings when you see them. Point out to her that those feelings are from loosing sleep and sleeping later will help.
My 4 year old daughter keeps waking up at 5:30 am no matter what we do... with a daytime nap, no nap.... (which is unbearable) she still wakes up too early.
We have black out curtains, noise machine.... and she still wakes up like clockwork. Oh and to add her bedtime is at 8 pm.... any tips on what we can do to get her to sleep in??
Answer:
She has sleep skills. We helped her with sleep skills when she was 7 months old. So this is a typical age thing. Talk about it with her a lot. If she seems tired from not getting a long enough night, point out her cranky and frustrated feelings when you see them. Point out to her that those feelings are from loosing sleep and sleeping later will help.
I had to do this when my 5 year old was having temper-tantrums and meltdowns after school when he had to do a little kindergarten homework. Writing a sentence was too stressful. He learned to recognize those feelings of frustration only happened on days he didn't get enough sleep.
An easy support tool is clear signal light. You can put an appliance timer on a lamp and set it to come on a specific time. Like a wake up light. Ask her to stay in her bed until the light comes on. Start with it set for 5:45. Then increase it as she is successful.
When she wakes, if she gets out of bed, bring her back to bad and sit with her quietly until the light comes on and then make a big deal about it. (Do a very Dramatic wake up).
I hope this helps.
Tracy Spackman
Learn more about Tracy Spackman's child supportive sleep consulting at GetQuietNights.com.
Call her for a free sleep assessment.
Friday, September 21, 2018
Thursday, April 5, 2018
Baby sleeps face down! Now what?
Hi Tracy,
We FINALLY got rid of the swaddle. Took two nights of lots of tears but it happened and has been very positive since then. But now our new problem is that Sam (5.5 months) will roll back to belly but not belly to Back. When he flips in the night, he hasn’t figured out how to get back to his back. Sometimes he just cries so we flip him over. But if he’s sleepy and not very energetic, he will sleep with his face down into the mattress - yikes!! How can we handle this??
Abby
Hi Abby
Have you heard of the Newton baby mattress? newtonbaby.com It is completely breathable so sleeping face down should be much less of a concern. It is also completely washable. Chemical free in every respect and firm and comfortable. This could go a long way to help you worry much less about his development.
You can also do tummy time together on the floor. Get on the floor with him to encourage him and play rolling games. You can also put him on his tummy under a play gym so he will have to roll over to play with the toys hanging from the bar.
When he’s on the mattress, instead of flipping him, assist his rolling with a gentle push on his hips, cross his legs, re-position his arm, etc. So essentially assisting, not rescuing. This is a normal process, just like working through the swaddle transition.
If you need more quick tips than this, go to http://getquietnights.com/schedule-a-consultation/ to arrange a call with me.
Tracy Spackman 602-524-7610
Certified Gentle Sleep Coach
Gentle Sleep Coaching - Teaching you how to get your kids to sleep.
Tracy's YouTube Chanel
Thursday, January 25, 2018
Are you caught in the Crazy Cortisol Cycle?
Are you caught in the Crazy Cortisol Cycle?
Cortisol is the hormone that your body produces when it gets stressed, or over tired. When you run out of energy, your body produces extra cortisol to put fuel in your blood to help you cope. Learn more about Cortisol Here.
What if your baby is teething and is in pain when it's time for his nap? You can try to get him to go to sleep but the pain keeps him awake and he gets a cortisol rush. Comfort him, pay attention to him and let the nap attempt go. You can try again in an hour, maybe less. Let's say this happens again, with the next nap attempt he is still teething painfully. And the next nap attempt and the next nap attempt. Now it's bedtime and he has had terrible day sleep. He has lots of extra cortisol in his system that makes it extra hard to fall asleep at bedtime. AND he frequently wakes up all night from teething pain and cortisol from all those missed naps. You may ask yourself, "What am I doing wrong?"
The answer is, If you are asking yourself this question, you are probably doing it pretty right. You care! You are making every effort to figure your baby out. This is coping time. Attention is what your baby needs. YOU are the answer. All that holding, night responding, nap attempting is right.
My friend Yaffi Lvova (of Baby Bloom Nutrition) was talking to me about about this and I love how she put this so I'm just going to quote her.
"Getting caught in the cortisol cycle and getting a terrible night when the baby is teething or accomplishing a big milestone is part of motherhood and it doesn't mean that I did anything wrong, so to speak. We, as mothers, tend to internalize everything, leading to some serious guilt over things that we often have no control over. I can't control the amount of teeth coming in or how quickly they come in any more than I can control the weather pattern. There are some difficult nights. And then they grow up."
She is so right! Anytime things don't run smoothly, we take the blame as mothers. We can control our attitudes and actions but children have their own bodies and rates of developments. Every baby is unique. Some babies teethe easy and some babies teethe very painfully. Our ability as mothers doesn't change this. What we can do is try to meet the needs of our babies, be there for our babies, and just do our best. It is enough.
Milestones and growing is a part of life. Did you know that during many of the early milestones, the brain circumference actually jumps in size? That has got to be uncomfortable! What can mom's do to help? Hold, cuddle, respond, repeat. Don't beat yourself up. Don't blame yourself. Everyday is a new day to try to help your child be the best they can be.
Soon they will be teenagers and I will have some fresh insights to share.
Tracy Spackman
www.GetQuietNights.com
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