[socialpoll id=”2504050″] The short answer to the title is —- not really, and the risk varies. But I sure get why so many parents want to co-sleep despite most pediatricians urging against it. I was up early yesterday morning listening to NPR when a story about parents’ love and desire to sleep with their babies […]
The Value Of Sleep
New Data And 10 Ways To Reduce SIDS And Suffocation Risk In Babies
Any parent to a newborn worries about Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and Sudden Unexpected Infant Death (SUID) and what they can do to prevent it. SIDS deaths are unexplained while SUID deaths in infants are secondary to things like suffocation, entrapment, infections, or trauma. The new recommendations take research on all of these risks into […]
Parent Sleep Matters
Podcast also available in: iTunes Google Play SoundCloud Stitcher Sleep is tied to our outlook, our mood, our performance, our safety, and our sense of stress/anxiety. We’re nicer people after we sleep and I often say that after a good night of sleep I get to be more of the mom & parent I earnestly […]
Each Hour Matters: How Much Children Should Sleep
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has issued a Statement of Endorsement supporting the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) guidelines outlining recommended sleep duration for children from infants to teens. Not exactly “news” but great reminders because of their import. The statement is pretty clear about it’s importance and perhaps this is why it […]
Self-care And Parenting, Sleep And Loneliness
My passion in work and the focus of my career is centered around improving the health and well-being of children. It always will be. I can get SO wrapped up in the opportunities to leverage every tool I’ve got to clarify, learn, relieve suffering, and contribute to pediatric health. I feel lucky to have the tools I […]
Cry-It-Out Improves Sleep And Reduces Mom Stress
Parents debating sleep training can rest (literally and figuratively) easy. New data out today in Pediatrics found that letting babies cry-it-out (CIO) or self-soothe does not increase signs of stress compared with babies who don’t. The study out of Australia tested two sleep training methods: “graduated extinction” (parents leave and return at increasing intervals of time, […]
Your Children Not Sleeping? It Might Be YOU
No question sleep — the good and restorative kind of sleep — changes our day. Sleep is tied to our outlook, our mood, our performance, our safety, and our sense of stress/anxiety. We’re nicer people after we sleep. I often say that after a good night of sleep I get to be more of the […]
Using Melatonin To Help Children Fall Asleep
When I recently shared this article on my Mama Doc Facebook about a “magic” children’s bedtime story promising to make the going-to-sleep process easier, many parents inquired about melatonin. No question that supplemental melatonin has a role in children’s sleep dysfunction but also no question that parents are turning to melatonin out of a need for convenience. […]
What About You? The Value Of Sleep
The minute we become parents we immediately start to hone in on the value of our children’s sleep. Their growth, their feeding, their development and their sometimes labile temperament quickly illustrate the import of real rest in our lives. Many parents advertise their commitment to their child’s sleep as a huge parenting win. Those of us who […]
