feeding Archives - All The Sleeps

What Is A Sleep Prop And Is It Bad?

Carianna — Fri, 29 May 2020 13:00:10 +0000

If you take a look around my site, you will see lots of mentions of sleep props or sleep associations. You may be wondering, “What IS a sleep prop?”

A sleep prop (also known as a sleep association, crutch, or assist to sleep) can be anything that your baby depends on to fall asleep. All sleep props are not created equal either! Some are extremely helpful for your baby’s sleep while others tend to be less helpful.

First thing I want to mention is that no sleep prop is across-the-board bad. I prefer the terms helpful and unhelpful that I used above. The word bad leads parents to think they’ve done something wrong or that something they are currently doing is an issue. This is not always the case!

I cannot stress this enough

If you’re currently using any of the unhelpful props that I mention below but sleep is going just fine for your family, then no need to change it! This post is meant to help families who are struggling get to the root cause of their sleep issues, not to make other families worry unnecessarily! If it’s not broken, don’t fix it!

Here are some signs that you might be using an unhelpful sleep prop:

♥Short naps, rarely longer than 30-45 minutes unless you help them back to sleep

♥Frequent night wakings, typically every couple of hours but could even be one or two wakings per night in an older baby

♥Daytime crankiness

♥Fighting going to sleep

♥Often waking within an hour of falling asleep at bedtime and difficult to get back down

♥Trying to start their day early in the morning (before 6am)

♥Unpredictable daytime schedule

So what can be considered an unhelpful sleep prop:

♥Nursing to sleep

♥Bottle feeding to sleep

♥Rocking to sleep

♥Holding to sleep

♥Laying with to fall asleep

♥Pacifier use (particularly if your baby cannot reinsert it themselves)

In and of themselves, these things aren’t inherently bad. But if you’re struggling with sleep, here’s what you need to understand. Your baby has the potential to wake up each and every sleep cycle throughout the night and during naps. That’s about every 40-50 minutes! So what your baby needs to fall asleep at bedtime, is exactly what they’ll need to fall back asleep at these wakings.

You have to ask yourself, am I willing to continue offering this sleep prop all throughout the night or after each short little nap in order to get them back to sleep? If that doesn’t sound too enticing then that’s where sleep coaching comes into play!

The goal of sleep coaching is to teach your baby to fall asleep independently. This means that when your baby is laid down in the crib, they should still be awake!

This is where the rule “drowsy but awake” comes into play. Personally, I prefer the phrase “awake and calm” because there can be some confusion about the word drowsy.

Every time you lay your baby down for sleep (naps and nighttime), ideally they would be awake and calm. Not asleep. Not drifting off. Fully awake.

They should also be calm and primed for sleep (i.e. proper timing, calming bedtime routine, ideal sleep environment). By doing this each and every time you lay your baby down, you are teaching them this important sleep skill, one that they will need to have for the rest of their life!

Using the awake and calm rule is so key that, if a newborn is taught good sleep habits and the awake and calm rule is used gradually from the very beginning, they might never have to go through any sleep coaching! How amazing would that be? I have an entire Newborn Sleep Course all about how to do this and it’s producing amazing results with my mamas!

Now that we’ve gone through all that info, let’s talk about helpful sleep props. These should be things that your child either has some control over or that are always available to them throughout the night/nap so that they aren’t disrupted when they briefly wake.

What is considered a helpful sleep prop?

♥White noise

♥Dark sleep environment

♥Sleep sack

♥Predictable bedtime routine

♥Lovey- if over 12 months of age

♥Pacifier if you little one can reinsert it themselves- although I still recommend getting rid of it sooner rather than later

These are all things that will aid your baby in getting the most restorative sleep possible, without causing unnecessary wakings or helplessness for them that you will need to attend to.

So how do you get rid of unhelpful sleep props?

If you’ve realized after reading this post that you have a big sleep prop issue and you’re ready to make the steps to resolve it, be sure to check out my different services. ⇓

⇒If you feel like you just need someone to tell you what changes to make and how, you may be interested in my Classic Consultation.

⇒If you know this will be a big transition for your family and you’d like my constant support and guidance along the way, my Ultimate Consultation is the way to go!

∗You can always Apply to Work with Me and we can talk through the best option for your unique situation.

The post What Is A Sleep Prop And Is It Bad? appeared first on All The Sleeps.

5 Baby Sleep Myths

Carianna — Mon, 15 Jan 2018 08:00:58 +0000

Who wants to talk about Baby Sleep Myths?! As parents, I know you’ve heard at least one of these myths offered as “sound advice.” Perhaps you knew it didn’t sound right when the advice was offered but didn’t know how to challenge it.

Or maybe you heard one of these Baby Sleep Myths and willingly accepted it as truth! Either way, All The Sleeps is here to set the record straight!

1. Sleep training your baby can cause brain damage.

Let’s start with this for our first Baby Sleep MYTH! There are all types of methods on the sleep training continuum. Some gradual, some not so gradual. Obviously, sleep training with no tears would be an ideal situation but depending on the age, temperament, and reliance on sleep props that your baby has, “no tears” is not usually possible. I will always work with the parents to execute their sleep plans in a way that they feel 100% comfortable with.

All of that being said, the whole idea of sleep training causing brain damage stems from the fact that cortisol levels can be elevated when baby is stressed. Increased levels of cortisol over LONG periods of time (think years and kids who grew up in orphanages) can interfere with healthy brain development.

That does not translate to sleep training being harmful. Sleep training your child over 3-20 nights simply does not equate to CHRONIC stress.

The evidence we have shows that babies who were sleep trained with cry-it-out methods (one extreme of the continuum) showed no lasting negative affects compared to their non-sleep trained counterparts. Babies from both groups were found to have healthy attachments with their parents and similar emotional and psychological health and development. Phew!

2. Never wake a sleeping baby.

I can totally relate to whomever started this MYTH! When a baby is sleeping peacefully, it just seems so wrong to try to wake them! However, there are some circumstances where waking a sleeping baby is better for them and you!

To feed a newborn. Newborns need to be nursing quite frequently and if they happen to be napping for 2+ hours, you just might need to wake them. You should always discuss feeding concerns with your pediatrician to determine if waking is necessary. Check out my Newborn Cheat Sheet for more information on this one!
If a newborn is going through day/night confusion. Day/night confusion can be tricky and the last thing you want is for baby to sleep all day and be up all night. Be sure to wake baby during the day for feedings and activities so they can start to learn that daytime is for playing and nighttime is for sleeping.
If naps go too long for an older baby/toddler. Each child has a maximum amount of day sleep they can achieve without taking away from night sleep. If your child sleeps more than that maximum then night sleep will suffer. See this handy Free Nap Guide to determine what a typical napping schedule should look like.

3. If your baby wakes at night, it means he is hungry.

This is a tricky one because as parents we never want to worry about our little ones going hungry. Feeding (whether nursing or bottle) can be a huge sleep prop so it is important to know if little one is really hungry or just wanting comfort.

If you aren’t sure, you should always check with your pediatrician before dropping night feedings. Some signs that baby might be feeding for comfort rather than hunger:

If baby does not fall back asleep after feeding or requires much more comfort to fall asleep.
If baby drinks only a little before falling right back to sleep.
If baby requires many feedings and has to be asleep when laid back down.

If your baby is showing these signs of feeding for comfort, then you’ve just proven my point! This MYTH is busted and you’ve got yourself a sleep association problem. Also see my recent post on Night Wakings: Hunger or Comfort?

4. A later bedtime will keep your baby from waking too early in the morning.

I know this one is counterintuitive but if you put a baby down earlier for bed, they are more likely to sleep better and later! Putting a baby down for bed too late can cause them to become overtired and this will make it harder for them to fall asleep.

Cortisol is a stress hormone that is released when babies become overtired and it makes it harder for baby to fall asleep! It can also result in more night wakings and overall worse sleep quality.

Most babies and toddlers sleep best with a bedtime between 6:00pm and 8:00pm. Night night, sleep MYTH!

5. Rice cereal in a bottle before bed will help your baby sleep longer.

Oh, I really hate this MYTH… first off, this is NOT recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Babies under 4 months are not able to handle solid foods nor do they have the oral motor skills necessary.

Babies (and adults for that matter) wake multiple times per night. We go through several sleep cycles each night and in between each cycle we may momentarily wake up.

Now, if your baby relies on you to put them to sleep (nursing, rocking, reinserting pacifier, etc) then they will not be able to make the transition from sleep cycle to sleep cycle. This is the cause of most night wakings. Once this sleep association is resolved, baby will not cry out overnight if they aren’t hungry.

If a baby truly is waking in the night because he is hungry, then he should be fed. No cereal necessary!

I’d love to hear any other baby myths/old wives’ tales (sleeping-related or not) that you’ve heard! And as always, Apply to Work with Me and we can chat about your baby’s sleep!

The post 5 Baby Sleep Myths appeared first on All The Sleeps.