This blog entry is more of a request. I am going to be exploring the topic of
infant sleep over the rest of this course, and I am looking for personal input
from you!
For the majority of my career, I have worked with
infants. When I began, we rocked babies
to sleep, then placed them in their cribs.
As my time in the classroom went on and I gained more experience, I
found a better strategy. We began placing
our babies in their crib when sleepy, but still awake, and allowed them to
sooth themselves to sleep. It wasn’t an
instant transition, but we were able to get all of our babies to put themselves
to sleep in their cribs. This is
something that I am passionate about. I
believe that this teaches very important sleeping skills that the children will
use the rest of their lives. It not only
teaches them how to GET to sleep, but also how to put themselves back to sleep
if they wake up in the middle of a nap or in the middle of the night.
I am located in a large child development center. We actually have 4 infant classrooms (ages 6-weeks
to 12-months). This allows me to not be
an island and to see how others in my same position operate. The longer I was there, the more I realized
that the sleep techniques I was using in my classroom were unique. The other rooms might have 1, maybe 2 babies that slept in their cribs
at all. Almost every baby in our center
sleeps in a bouncy seat, swing, or bucket seat in the play area of the
classroom instead of in a crib, separated from the hustle and bustle of the
classroom.
This difference in sleep techniques made me curious to learn
more. I know that sleeping flat (like in
a crib) is better for a baby’s circulation and allows more blood-flow to the
brain. I would like to learn more about
infant sleep through my research.
Here’s where I need your help. I am an infant teacher, but I have no
children of my own. I am curious how
your baby slept (both at night and for naps) when they were less than a year
old. You don’t have to go into great
detail, but I would like to know HOW you got your baby to sleep, and their
typical sleep patterns (especially between 4-12 months).
Let me know! I look forward to your replies
Rene, my nephew rock his self to sleep when he wake up. I thought that was fun how he rock his self to sleep when he was small and he still do it now when he go to sleep.How long have you been working there?
ReplyDeleteI learned early on that not only did my child need a good sleep schedule, but so did I! I brought my fourth baby home to three other lovely wonders...Justin was 3, Stephanie was 2, and Jacob was 1! My pediatrician also coached me on setting up good sleep routines from my first born! I put Justin to bed as an infant of about three months old in the bassinette in our bedroom at 8:30 each night. At first, I used to lay beside him in my bed holding his hand in the bassinette until he fell asleep. However, he quickly got dependent on my finger to hold for him to fall asleep. It took me two nights to break that habit but it worked by just letting him fuss for a few minutes before attending to him. He finally learned to go to sleep on his own! From that point on, sleep was easy and happy for us! As they got older, bedtime was 8:00pm, they woke around 7:30 am and napped once in the afternoon. For a big family, we were so lucky to have it all fall into place like that! Good luck with your research! Hope this helped a bit!
ReplyDeleteRenee, This is is very a very interesting topic. I have a 6 month old who will not go to sleep unless I rock him. My other son, who is now three also would not sleep unless I rocked or held him. However, now he will go to bed when he is tired and will fall asleep on his own. My oldest, my daughter never had to be rocked. She always soothed herself to sleep. I hope this helps. I really like this topic. Cant wait to see the results.
ReplyDeleteRenee,
ReplyDeleteI think you have chosen an important and very interesting topic. Sleep is such a vital part of an infant's healthy development. I am going to look through my reference lists on old papers for an article I read in an earlier class on sleep to forward to you. I cannot wait to read more about infant sleep. Good luck with your research.
Renee,
ReplyDeleteI was so intrigued by your post. I do not have any children of my own however, I am currently sitting my sorority sisters 3 month old for 3 days (she came down with the flu). I have tried to hold him football style to get him to sleep and that did not work so much. Over the last two days I noticed Kullen, my boyfriend, who has a 6 year old, would lay the baby across his lap and slightly hold his so he wouldn't wiggle all over and it worked every time!! Once he was sleep we would put him tummy down on the bed to continue his sleep. Sometimes during the night he would start to toss and turn and I would rub his back and Kullen told me to stop because we did not want the baby to get use to someone rubbing him back to sleep. I hope this little but is helpful. I look forward to reading more about your study.