What is Normal Infant Sleep? (Part I)
Simply being made aware of normal sleep patterns can help alleviate the stress and anxiety parents feel, leading to happier times for the entire family. So what is normal?
Simply being made aware of normal sleep patterns can help alleviate the stress and anxiety parents feel, leading to happier times for the entire family. So what is normal?
Helping an infant return to sleep easily, then, is an essential gift to give our infants—as well as an important goal for parents who need to rest. The science of nighttime care provides a good foundation for parents trying to calm their babies. It clarifies what is important to know about calming babies and why certain types of calming are most likely to be helpful.
On April 5, 2012 Vanessa Clark was found guilty of child endangerment in the death of their 2-month-old son Tristan in July 2010. What did she do? She co-slept with him. There are multiple things wrong with this though and we need to look at all them to understand how flawed this outcome and entire situation is.
I am pleased to share five questions with Dr. Helen L. Ball, professor of anthropology at Durham University. Her work specializes in infant sleep practices, with a side focus on breastfeeding. Here she shares her thoughts on various aspects of parenting, research, and policy.
I feel like it’s time to not just point out what many of us having pointed out over and over – namely that education is key – but to truly examine why these places are feeling the need to take this route and what’s wrong with their approach (beyond the obvious).
A fabulous review of issues surrounding bedsharing and co-sleeping by Dr. Helen Ball of Durham University. Reprinted with permission.
You call yourselves “baby whisperers” and “experts” on how to get babies to sleep and though you write books telling parents exactly how to care for their children, it seems as though you all require a bit of a brush up on your education.
There is an endless array of questions and judgments and ‘should’s associated with both infant sleep and feeding. But this hasn’t always been the case. It used to be a simple matter of mother breastfeeding and mother and infant sleeping together with no judgment and no questions about quality or quantity of sleep.
An overview of the research on the supposed link between increased SIDS risk and co-sleeping. Warning that there doesn't seem to be much to it, but there are some real considerations that need to be taken into account.