What is Pediatric (Baby, Infant and Toddler) Sleep Coaching?

Pediatric (baby, infant and toddler) sleep coaches help babies sleep better

Why do parents struggle with baby sleep? How can a baby sleep coach help parents?

1. Drastic and constant changes

   Baby sleep changes drastically every few weeks initially and every month later. Initially newborns sleep 14 to 17 hours with up to 5 naps during the day and it reduces to 10-13 hours by 5 years with 1 day nap. (See recommended sleep by age group here). Keeping up with the changes is difficult for parents.

2. Individual variation

   The sleep requirement varies from baby to baby. Some babies are on the higher end of the sleep spectrum and need more sleep, some need less sleep. Some babies drop naps sooner than others, giving parents an illusion of poor sleep. Comparing with the neighbors baby or seeking advice from well meaning friends only adds to confusion. 

3. Changing child care environment 

   Longer working hours, working encroaching into family time due to increased accessibility and connectivity, rising dual working households, increasing isolation in cities, having kids later in adulthood which means than grandparents are also too old to support

4. Information overload

   Confusing messages from friends, a vast amount of knowledge on the internet, in books and on videos there is a need for a professional/specialist to tell us how sleep is supposed to look for a baby, toddler or preschooler

How common are the sleep challenges? Why is it a problem

Insomnia is the trouble in falling asleep, staying asleep, or both affects 20% to 30% of children. There are significant relationships between parental and child sleep for bedtime, waketime, number of night wakings, and total nighttime sleep time across ages and cultures. According to 2019 research published in the Sleep (journal) by Richter et al it took 6 years  for both parents to reach back to prepregnancy level of sleep. Mothers report that their child’s sleep pattern significantly impacts their sleep and daytime function including parenting ability. Many parents intuitively understand how sleep deprivation slows or inhibits their mental processes, reduces their ability to stay calm when confronted with negative stimuli, and interferes with their ability to manage their emotions and hence affecting their children. Thus, interventions to improve children’s sleep and develop good sleep habits, especially in early childhood, are likely to improve the quality of life of the whole family.

How are the sleep challenges dealt with?

Always discuss with your pediatrician. If there is no underlying medical concern for the sleep troubles in children, most pediatricians recommend waiting it out. Unfortunately, this waiting period can be frustrating and can be as long as four years for some children. But when parents are stressed, dealing with a ton of wakeups and desperate for sleep, pediatric sleep coaches like me, help parents out.

About Prithi, your baby sleep coach

Hi, I am Prithi! I runs Naps & Sleep, a practice in Bangalore. I am a certified Child Sleep Coach and Consultant from the International Parenting & Health Institute (IPHI), USA and training counseling psychologist (Child). I help parents address their baby's sleep issues by providing advice, education, and support to improve their child's sleeping patterns and habits non-medically with a scientifically proven process. I have helped resolve issues like difficulty in falling asleep, frequent night wakings, or short naps, sleeping by rocking or on parents/in their parents arms, early rising or late bedtime by determining the underlying causes and offering corrective solutions.

You can connect with me on my Instagram page @naps.sleep or connect over WhatsApp

Reference

1. About sleep. (2024, May 15). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/sleep/about/index.html#cdcreference_1 

2. Summer, J. V., & Summer, J. V. (2024, April 5). Sleep disorders in children. Sleep Foundation. https://www.sleepfoundation.org/children-and-sleep/sleep-disorders-in-children

3.  Richter, D., Krämer, M. D., Tang, N. K. Y., Montgomery-Downs, H. E., & Lemola, S. (2019). Long-term effects of pregnancy and childbirth on sleep satisfaction and duration of first-time and experienced mothers and fathers. SLEEP, 42 (4). https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsz015

4.  Meltzer, L. J., & Mindell, J. A. (2007). Relationship between child sleep disturbances and maternal sleep, mood, and parenting stress: A pilot study. Journal of Family Psychology, 21(1), 67–73. https://doi.org/10.1037/0893-3200.21.1.67

5.  Lcsw, E. L., PhD. (2017, February 25). Being tired can interfere with parents’ ability to express joy. Psychology Today https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/joyful-parenting/201702/the-surprising-effects-of-parents-sleep-deprivation

6.  McQuillan, M. E., Bates, J. E., Staples, A. D., & Deater-Deckard, K. (2019). Maternal stress, sleep, and parenting. Journal of Family Psychology, 33 (3), 349–359. https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0000516