Bottle Weaning – Saying “Bye Bye” to the Bottle for Good There are so many factors that affect baby and toddler sleep. If your toddler (or even preschooler) is using a bottle at naps, bedtime, or to re-settle overnight, then he or she might be using it as their sleep crutch. If you notice that…
Back-To-School Routines for your Special Needs Child with Checklists As parents at the end of summer — for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere — it’s easy to put off the bedtime routine piece of our back-to-school checklist until the very last moment. We may even be tempted to simply forget routines altogether and…
Sample Schedules: Sleep and Naps From 6 Months to Preschool Sometimes it seems like babies and young children grow up in the blink of an eye. They leave behind one skill and gain another as fast as you can get out your camera. While they are growing, their sleep needs change too. Your three naps-per-day…
Tips For The Back To School Sleep Transition: Routine is Everything For many of you, school is starting in the next few weeks. That means earlier mornings, and potentially an earlier bedtime. Many families slowly migrate to a later bedtime during the summer. Days are longer, activities start later, and vacations have special rules. You…
Women are most vulnerable to depression and anxiety during pregnancy and postpartum (the first year after a baby comes). If depression or anxiety is going to surface, it will almost certainly happen during this time. There are so many feelings and thoughts during pregnancy and postpartum, so how can Mom tell, for instance, if she’s…
So many people are hunkered down in their homes right now helping to curb the spread of a worldwide pandemic. Schools and daycares have closed, and many of us feel like we’re taking care of our children while attempting to try to work from home — if that’s even an option! If you’re at your…
Bedtime stories are a part of almost every family nighttime routine. Reading is a screen-free, quiet activity that allows babies and children to calm down before it’s time to go to sleep. Reading stories to young children has benefits beyond a bedtime routine, though. The American Academy of Pediatrics studied the brain function of children,…
You have finally decided that bedtime and night wakings have been hard enough for long enough. And naps are a wrestling match you feel like you just aren’t winning. Now you’re ready for sleep coaching and have decided you’re ready to see your child really sleep well — and to catch up on sleep yourself!…
Sleep Schedules – Your Two-and-a-Half to Five-Year-Old Preschool sleep needs change quickly! Between ages two and three, average sleep needs drop to about ten and a half hours a night, plus an hour-and-a-half afternoon nap*. Four year olds need eleven and a half hours at night, and most no longer nap daily, although they do…
We Must Stop Blaming Parents for Baby Sleep Problems This article has been reprinted with permission. Original title: “Sleep research and advice is full of parent-shaming and it needs to stop“ I recently met a woman who told me that when her baby was roughly four-months-old, she was persistently fussy and just wouldn’t sleep…at all.…