Sleep is a concern because so many books take about the necessity of good sleep for brain development. So what do we try next? Thank goodness, we have Google because I just got online and found one more thing to try - a rewards chart. Why didn't I think of that? We used one for potty training, and coupled with the right motivation (for Hen, little bits of candy cane), it worked well. I shall make up a sleep chart and buy stickers for it - the boys LOVES stickers - and we'll try that next.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Why didn't I think of that?
Quite some time ago Henry transitioned from a boy who won't sleep through the night to a boy who can't get to sleep. He does a pretty good job staying asleep once he actually falls asleep. Of course we don't give him caffeine. (I read an article that stated in absolute, unequivocal terms there should be no caffeine six hours before bed time. Well, no shit, Sherlock. Do people actually give their kids caffeine earlier in the day?) We have tried the relaxing schedule - dinner, bath, reading books. We try not to be too active, although sometimes this is hard when we're having a Led Zeppelin dance party. (Hen also likes Lady Gaga's Telephone.) And these things do not affect whether or not he goes to sleep right away. Neither do we see a difference on the days Henry has school or when he spends the majority of his time outside playing in the fresh air and running amok.
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5 comments:
Jealous. We have a sticker chart for Erin's sleep. It's not at all motivating for her. And since she went to sleep at 9 pm and woke up at 5:30.... we're all sleepy here too.
Good luck! If that doesn't work, maybe you should try pumping him FULL of caffeine. You never know. ;)
Ahhhh, we have the child who goes to bed fine, most nights, but does not stay asleep all night (and wakes so so early). I think all are brutal! And from a total Eugene/hippy side, have you tried taking him to a homeopathic doctor who might be able to give him a little something to fix the problem? It worked for a biter I know and several others whose kids had nightmares and other sleep problems . . . Hope you get some sleep soon . . . and me too.
Right - we did that with Quinn - haven't had to do it with Liam yet. Both boys wake up early to pee in the morning - if it's before 5am they manage to fall back asleep, it it's 5:05 they cannot fall back asleep and then we have a long day...
Anyway.. yeah for rewards charts! We used to have a list of rules on Quinn's door - "Quinn will stay in bed and go to sleep." "Quinn will stay in his room in the morning until Mommy or Daddy opens the door." (This was from him waking up at 5:15 - gave me some time to shower.) "If Quinn stays in bed and goes to sleep he will get a sticker!" WOohoo for stickers - he also traded stickers in for special trips... Like 5 stickers then we went somewhere fun and unusual.
Good luck.
I'm not an expert on this, but the woman I rent my office from has a book on Pediatric Sleep Disorders. not in ANY way suggesting Henry has one, but I was flipping through it and it had some helpful stuff for parents. when I'm at my office I can look through it and see what "the experts" suggest.
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