Is your toddler climbing out of the crib?

Is your toddler climbing out of the crib?  Is he losing sleep and up all nap-time or all night, forcing you to keep bringing him back to bed? Are you thinking of transitioning to a bed instead?

Hold that thought!

The important question is: Is he still younger than 2.5 years?  There is a level of cognitive development needed to comprehend more complex concepts like..."Stay In Bed!"  Most children under 2.5 aren't quite there yet, and so moving them to a toddler bed starts a whole new onslaught of problem with your child getting out of bed and coming to you in the night, or worse yet, wandering around the house in the middle of the night while you are sleeping.

First, try these tips borrowed from some very creative Moms trying to keep their toddlers from climbing out of their cribs.  This is assuming you have already put the mattress on the lowest setting.

1. Dress them in a PJ night shirt that goes all the way to their feet.  This can help prevent them from getting that all-important leg up.

2. Put them in a sleep sack.  That also can help prevent them from getting a leg up.  Some mom's have sewn the bottom to be a little more narrow for added effect.  And yes, they do make sleep sacks in toddler sizes!

3. Sew the legs together of their sleeper.  This makes it extremely hard to get that leg up.

4. Drop the bottom out of your crib altogether to make the rail higher. Fill in the bottom with boards.  Make it secure with screws.  Be sure it is solid and Safe. Don't be afraid to hire a professional carpenter for help with this tip.  I found a blog post about creating a dropped mattress crib modification here.

Or add a piece to the top if that's easier. Here is what another creative family did.

If you are determined to take him from the crib and use a bed instead, and if he continues to get up in the night, you can try a gentle sleep plan.  That still may not give you 100% success of keeping him in bed all night if he just isn't ready.  Putting a tall gate at the door and clearing the room of climbable furniture and distracting toys would be like turning the whole room into one big crib and there, they would be safe all night.

If you have forgone the crib all together and are sleeping on a floor mattress with your child, that works too.

Everyone needs sleep to be healthy and productive.

Tracy Spackman is a gentle sleep coach living in Phoenix, Arizona and she is helping families get better sleep all over the world.  To set up a consultation, go to www.GetQuietNights.com.

Tracy Spackman
www.GetQuietNights.com
602-524-7610
https://www.facebook.com/QuietNights

Early Rising Sun Increases Early Rising Sons and Daughters

Exposing your body to bright light at the same time every morning helps to keep your body clock on the same rhythm so if the spring sun is rising earlier, you may be waking earlier and so is your child.  To help prevent this early rising and help your child sleep through the night you can use this  trick...

Use black out blinds and Blue Tape.  Use blue tape (painter's tape) to tape the blinds to the walls to seal out any cracks of light that slip through the edges.  If you are buying blinds to fit, order them to fit outside the frame. This blocks more light.

Some families get more creative using cardboard or tinfoil to block all the light for a light sensitive sleeper. Even hanging a blanket over the curtains or blinds for an extra layer of darkness may help.

Our Sleep needs are influenced by our Circadian rhythms. Light and other signals (like sound and food) effect our Circadian rhythms.  Using white noise can be a great signal.  It becomes a sleep association and encourages the body to produce Melatonin. (The drowsy hormone) Darkness also increases the Production of Melatonin helping you or your baby sleep.

 Circadian rhythms are regular changes in mental and physical characteristics that occur in the course of a day. (circadian is Latin for "around a day")...Let's get more technical.

 Most circadian rhythms are controlled by the body's biological "clock."  The body's "clock" is called the suprachiasmatic nucleus or SCN and is actually a pair of pinhead-sized brain structures that together contain about 20,000 neurons. The SCN rests in a part of the brain called the hypothalamus, just above the point where the optic nerves cross. Light that reaches photoreceptors in the retina (a tissue at the back of the eye) creates signals that travel along the optic nerve to the SCN.
Signals from the SCN travel to several brain regions, including the pineal gland, which responds to light-induced signals by switching off production of the hormone melatonin. The body's level of melatonin normally increases after darkness falls, making people feel drowsy. The SCN also governs functions that are synchronized with the sleep/wake cycle, including body temperature, hormone secretion, urine production, and changes in blood pressure.

By depriving people of light and other external time cues, scientists have learned that most people's biological clocks work on a 25-hour cycle rather than a 24-hour one. But because sunlight or other bright lights can reset the SCN, our biological cycles normally follow the 24-hour cycle of the sun, rather than our innate cycle. Circadian rhythms can be affected to some degree by almost any kind of external time cue, such as the beeping of your alarm clock, the clatter of a garbage truck, or the timing of your meals. Scientists call external time cues zeitgebers (German for "time givers").
This information can be found here from the NINDS (National Institute of Neurological Disorders...)

If your baby isn't sleeping through the night or is having trouble with early rising, give me a call. I can help you figure out what you need to do to get your baby on track.

Call Tracy Spackman 602-524-7610
www.GetQuietNights.com
https://www.facebook.com/QuietNights
For Consultation Prices go to http://getquietnights.com/schedule-a-consultation/

Tracy Talks about Gentle Sleep Coaching

I thought it would be cool to have a video of me talking about sleep while I was holding a sleeping baby.  So there I am, I had an audience, a video recorder, and a sleeping baby with a few talking points all ready to go... And of course the baby work up. LOL! It still worked out. Here is the link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5f3CxNpdEhk

No special equipment, no special make up (clearly), no editing.  Raw talk about sleep. Real.

I am a Gentle Sleep Coach who teaches moms, dads and families how to get kids to sleep through night. Using gentle methods (not cry it out), evidenced based behavioral science to work with the family and their sleep goals and family dynamic to help them teach their child how to self soothe and sleep through the night. I look at the sleep environment, the schedule, the bedtime, the naps, the sleep crutches, the habits, the temperament and the past sleep history. 

Whether you are nursing to sleep, rocking to sleep, holding to sleep, co-sleeping, sleep fighting, I can help you improve your child's sleep and get you your evenings back. Parents need wind down time too. If you aren't getting at least 5.5 hours of sleep (even broken up sleep), you may start showing signs of "crazy". Sleep deprivation skews your perspective, increases anxiety, decreases your body's natural immunity and ability to think clearly and ability to handle stress. 

I have been a gentle sleep coach for over 3 years, I am trained and certified by Kim West the Sleep Lady and spend everyday helping families sleep. This is my full time passion. People have called me a sleep coach, a sleep trainer, a sleep doula, a sleep consultant, a sleep counselor, a sleep guru, a good friend, a miracle worker and worth every penny! 

I work with children 4 months (18 weeks) to 6 years old. These children typically need 10-12 hours of sleep. I have worked with 8 year olds too and I have a special book I make for older children to help them focus on their sleep issues in a healthy way. I have even been able to help some teenagers. (Teenagers need 9 hours of sleep) 

Babies, toddlers and preschoolers greatly benefit from sleeping through the night and if the parents are ready to make a change to help them be successful with sleep, I can help. I can build you a keep co-sleeping plan, a get out of co-sleeping plan, transfer to a crib plan, only coach at mom's house plan, a daycare plan, a single mom plan, a dad does it all plan, a gentle plan, a personalized plan with methods that work. I also give classes, workshops and speak at mom's groups and community organizations. If you need a sleep consultation visit www.GetQuietNights.com and contact me to set it up.

Call me for a free 15 minute sleep consultation.

Tracy Spackman
Certified Gentle Sleep Coach
602-524-7610
www.GetQuietNights.com
www.facebook.com/QuietNights 
@GetQuietNights  on Twitter

A consistent gentle plan usually works but what if it doesn't...

Most people who attempt to improve sleep through sleep coaching just need a solid method and a lot of consistency.  If sleep coaching has been a real challenge and you just can't get there 100%, there may be an underlying problem to investigate. Sometimes as a sleep coach I feel like a detective. Some medical issues that mess up sleep are;

• Low Milk Production-breast milk should be thick and yellowish.  If it's white and thin, there may be a problem if your child always seem to want to nurse and can't sleep long stretches.
• Tongue Tie-This often gets overlooked when it's a simple fix.
• Sensory Processing Issues-An OT (Ocupational Therapy) Assessment can be good for all kids.  Maybe your child perceives the world differently than we do.
• Circadian Rhythm Abnormality-Your body's natural body clock is off  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23385698
• Melatonin regulation issues-Without the body's natural rising levels of Melatonin in the evening, it is difficult to fall asleep 
• GERD/Reflux-Talk to your Doctor about this and all these issues.
• Allergies-from environment allergies to food sensitivities, when sleeping things tend to feel worse.
• Asthma-a chronic (long-term) lung disease that inflames and narrows the airways
• Anemia-your blood does not carry enough oxygen to the rest of your body. The most common cause of anemia is not having enough iron.
• ADHD-sometimes is misdiagnosed and is actually a sleep issue but most ADHD also have sleep issues.
• Restless legs-also can be the result of low iron and Apnea.
• Night Terrors-There may not be anything you can do about this other than keep your child safe and calm.
• Seizures-There are tons of types of Seizures.
• Apnea-narrow or blocking of the airways that will wake you up if you can breathe-a startling way to wake.
• Anxiety-With this, Cry it out is not the way to go.
• Medications that are stimulants-of course this will make a difference, talk about the timing of dosage with your doctor.

I usually find that a consistent and gentle behavioral modification method works for most families and there is no underlying condition but if things still seem not right, this is where you start looking. Sometimes I see red flags in your sleep history and we can address it sooner rather than later but it helps to book a consultation with your Medical Doctor or Natrualpathic Dr just to discuss sleep. There often isn't enough time to add sleep to the list of things to discuss at a normal well child visit.
50% of pediatricians do not ask about and/or screen for sleep issues. A gentle method is the best place to start and then we go from there... Call me if you need help. 602-524-7610  www.GetQuietNights.com