Guest Post - Teething, Crawling, Traveling - What About Sleep? (Giveaway)

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Within your baby’s first 2 years, several things can disrupt his sleep, making him sleep-deprived and possibly cranky, and all the while also making you a tired parent. Sleep deprivation has been linked to obesity, depression, and other health concerns. And, adequate sleep for our children is also very important for their development and behavior/mood. Here is a list of common disruptions and what you can do about them.

Teething

Babies can begin to teethe as early as just a few months old, but it might take awhile before the actual tooth even appears. Some babies won’t skip a beat when they get teeth, while others will feel every single one. It is best for both your sakes to continue to get as much sleep as you can even during the height of a tooth popping through.

It is best to develop a (rough) “plan” you decide ahead of time on how you will handle teething episodes. If you have a great sleeper who only has sleep problems during teething, this is an easy plan to make. Simply make him comfortable as much as possible and give him extra comfort. He will go back to sleeping well after the tooth pops through.

However, if you have a challenging sleeper even on the best days, this won’t be your best plan as teething can spiral into weeks and months of poor sleep. Your plan may need to be more detailed such as you give him a teething tablet (or Tylenol or Motrin or Orajel with pediatrician approval) at bedtime and re-dose through the night if he needs it, staying with him for 30 minutes for it to kick in, and then putting him back to bed promptly for him to sleep the rest of the night. You would not want to have a plan to stay with him for hours because that can lead to marathon nights even after teeth pop through!

Read more about how to handle teething and your baby’s sleep.

Milestones

It’s so exciting when your baby starts to roll over, crawl, or stand! We cheer them on and they become movers and shakers. It’s so fun! Until…it’s 3am and she won’t sleep! It is very difficult for their brains to shut off and continue to sleep well when there is so much to do! But, sleep is essential for proper development and so you still need to encourage optimum sleep even during this exciting (for both of you) time.

The key here is you need to set limits. Kids thrive on limits! They all must have them. They can’t play in the street. They can’t have a cookie before dinner (most of the time). They can’t stick a fork in an outlet. And…they can’t play with mommy at 3 a.m. just because she is up because she is excited about crawling. She needs her sleep and you need yours to be an effective parent. Some parents do find they are in a darkened room trying hard not to play with their baby, but she isn’t going back to sleep. Even you being there is enough to set the expectation that you will do that every night. You may want to re-think that one.

Traveling

It is common to hear of parents who have children sleeping well before a vacation and when they come back, all of a sudden, their baby no longer sleeps well. Keep in mind that vacations are usually very active (most people need to rest after vacation!) and most likely he didn’t sleep the best on vacation or even if he did, with all of the activity, it may have not been enough. It’s also common to create new habits while on vacation because many of us need to do what works when in a “foreign” place.

The first thing to try to get back to normal is to put him to bed extra early for several days. The #1 problem after vacation is usually that he is overtired and needs extra rest. After that, see my paragraph above about setting limits.

Whether it’s teething, a milestone, or traveling, make sure you prioritize your baby’s sleep. They are depending on us to do that for them. Their primary needs are to eat, pee/poop, interact with us and sleep. You would not deprive them of the first 3, so I challenge you not to deprive them of the 4th, either.

Enter for a chance to win a free copy of our e-Book, Help Your Child Sleep, a Detailed Guide by leaving a comment letting me know how this guide would benefit your household! You may also be interested in our free guide titled 5 Ways to Help Your Baby Sleep Through the Night. This giveaway will end on August 18th 2008 at 7PM CST. U.S. and international residents may enter!

Nicole Johnson is the owner of Pick Nick’s Brain - picknicksbrain.com - specializing in sleep products and consulting services for children. Nicole is a wife, mother of two, Full-time work-at-home IT consultant and now, an entrepreneur. She attended UC Berkeley where she received her B.A. in Computer Science and received her MBA from Ohio State University after the birth of her first son. She received her Master’s in Sleep Deprivation when her first son did not sleep and made it her mission to help other parents help their children learn healthy sleep habits, too.