In terms of naps, most toddlers during their second year will start to abandon their morning nap in favour of a longer afternoon one. It’s a natural progression and you should encourage and guide your child though the process of combining the two naps into one. The first sign that the child has reached this stage occurs when he refuses the morning nap until later on and then hardly sleeps in the afternoon. Often, the tot will want to sleep at lunchtime so perhaps trying an earlier lunch (by 15 to 30 minutes) may allow him to eat first and then nap. If he doesn’t get fed before naptime, hunger will probably wake him. As the child grows, he may require a longer nap in the afternoon. If it is not affecting his night sleeping then it’s healthy to leave him to it. If it does start affecting it, you should start waking him up so he has time to tire himself out again before night time (Lavin, Glaser 2007).

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When setbacks occur in your child’s sleep routine, you may need to go back to basics with him. Re-introduce the consistency of the bedtime rituals and do the following:

• If your child kicks up a fuss as you leave the room, say calmly and cheerfully: “I love you. It’s bedtime. I will see you in the morning.” Then smile and leave the room.

• Get ready for your baby to cry from 30 to 60 minutes but remember this is a want not a need. At this age in the child’s development you really shouldn’t give in to his demands easily or you will only reinforce his confidence in this technique’s effectiveness and you’ll increase the problem.

• In the middle of the night, analyse the cries and decide honestly, if you think he’s really in need or if he only wants attention. If you’re sure it’s just the latter, be strong and wait him out. This will give him the chance to cry it out and learn to comfort himself back to sleep. If you must go back in the room, give him a pat on the head and a soothing sentence but do not pick him up or this may signal playtime! (Please note ‘crying it out’ is not acceptable for younger babies and we advise strongly against it).

Once you’ve taken the above measures and tackled separation anxiety your nights should be peaceful once more. The hard part is over and all that remains are a few little adjustments to reflect the physical and mental development of your child. (Lavin, Glaser, 2007)

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I feel it’s very important that we discuss this topic first because it’s surely the gravest concern of any new parent.

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome is where a child (usually under one year) dies suddenly, for no known medical reason, in their sleep.

Thankfully, the rates of SIDS are falling. In 1991 SIDS hit 1 in 1000 infants.  Nowadays, the figure is closer to 1 in 2000. I believe the reduction is due to new parents becoming increasingly more educated about the main risk factors that are usually associated with this condition. With more and more studies being conducted on SIDS, hopefully, the number of instances will continue to fall.

So what do we know about SIDS?

Most cases of SIDS (around 75%) happen when the infant is less than four months old. After this period the risk falls dramatically. Premature babies are at a higher risk with the risk rising according to the degree of prematurity (Lavin, Glaser 2007).

Babies and infants exposed to cigarette smoke have been found to have a higher risk of SIDS, with some studies indicating the risk is five times greater than babies not exposed to the cigarette smoke.

In which ways can we dramatically decrease a child’s risk of SIDS?

1.  The golden rule is to put your baby to sleep on his back.

This has been the most influential discovery in reducing the number of deaths from SIDS and you should ensure you always follow it. There has been concern by some parents who followed this rule but awoke to find their baby had rolled himself over onto his side or front. Doctors generally agree that this type of occurrence should not warrant an elevated cause for concern. They feel that if the baby was able to roll over unassisted, he should also have the mobility to get out of an uncomfortable or stressful position should one occur. However, if you discover that your baby has rolled over onto to his front, I would still help him onto his back again just to be on the safe side.

2. Ensure the baby’s home is smoke free. Even smokers who light up outside of the house increase the risk of SIDS. Kicking the habit is obviously the safest thing you can do but if you can’t do this, ensure that smoke is banned from the house and that no smoker shares a bed with the baby.

(more…)

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