Sleep Problems in Children: What Can You Do?

Sleep problems quickly have an impact on family happiness. It’s simply so much harder to enjoy looking after your baby or young child if you are not getting healthy sleep.

Sometimes sleep problems can sort themselves out reasonably quickly.

Sometimes you get to understand first hand why sleep deprivation is used as torture.

So how do you get a healthy sleep pattern established for your child?

Start early. The day you bring them home.

Wrapping

Some parents swear the old fashioned swaddling of infants is the only way to get them to sleep. Wrapping babies who are having sleep problems is certainly worth trying.

The idea behind wrapping is that it provides the same restricted comfort the baby experienced in the womb and so stops jerky arm and leg movements from waking the baby.

You can even try this with older babies although the older the baby the more likely they will respond better if their arms are left out.

Always use a light cotton or muslin cloth. Anything heavier like blankets or flannelette sheets are too warm and can be dangerous.

There are many different versions of the ideal wrap. Some parents just tuck the edges under the baby’s body, others roll them up like a little sausage, and others use a triangle shape to wrap across and behind the baby. Experiment to see what suits you and your baby.

Never cover the baby’s face.

Once the baby is in their cot you can pull up their bedding to their chin as normal, just check them to make sure they don’t over heat.

Waking at Night

Sometimes knowing this can ease the stress a little. Sleep problems aren’t really about the baby waking at night but are more to do with how they go off to sleep and when.

You will cope better and make better decisions if you can have some sleep.

Here are some ways to sneak in some extra sleep:

• Take naps during the day while your baby sleeps to make up for lost sleep at night if you can. Broken sleep is better than none.
• If possible, share the job of getting up to your child with your partner.
• Consider having your baby sleep in the same room as you if it helps you all sleep.
• Sometimes having a baby in the same room makes it too hard for our partners to get up for work the next day. Instead you could consider having a place where you can sleep in your child's room on occasions when they are finding it difficult to settle.
• Ask for help from your partner, family or friends. They may be able to help out by watching the baby and doing some household chores like washing or cooking allowing you to have a nap.
• Talk to your doctor or health nurse if you can’t seem to get any relief. The stress that comes from lack of sleep can be extreme and have a detrimental effect on the whole family.

Controlled Crying

This seems to be a highly controversial method. Some parents and health practitioners swear by it and others believe it to be highly detrimental to your child’s well being.

As with most advice, you’ll have to decide what works best for your family and stick with it.

Controlled crying is based on an organised process of gradually withdrawing from your child with the belief that they will learn to put themselves to sleep.

It should never be used with babies under six months of age. If you decide to try controlled crying you must be prepared for the fact that your baby will cry and scream at the top of their lungs. It is just heart wrenching to hear.

At some stage your baby must go from being fed and/or rocked to sleep to being able to settle themselves. For some families this is the first battle of wills between parent and child.

You must believe that your child is capable of getting themselves to sleep.

You must be prepared to be consistent for at least a week.

Usually an improvement with sleep problems is noticeable in a matter of a couple of days. But it may have to be applied consistently over months.

Controlled crying doesn't suit everyone, and your baby will settle into their own bed by themselves eventually by using a consistent bedtime routine. It just depends on whether you are willing and able to work around this.

Important Note: If the advice here does not seem to help you, and the sleep problems continue, you must discuss it with your doctor or a professional.

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