Nighttime Parenting and Attachment: A Role for Maternal Responsiveness?
The question of whether and how nighttime parenting affects attachment is still unclear. I review a study that helps elucidate at least part of this issue.
The question of whether and how nighttime parenting affects attachment is still unclear. I review a study that helps elucidate at least part of this issue.
The premise behind extinction sleep training is that infants (and toddlers) are being taught to "self-soothe"; however, this ignores key points of what self-soothing abilities can be expected from children and how distressed they are at the time of separation. Instead of focusing on these extinction methods, gentler methods that respect where the child is developmentally should be considered.
Most people believe that they have to "teach" their infant to sleep, but the entire idea of sleep as a skill to be taught counters the fact that sleep is actually a biological process.
An analysis of new research that aimed to assess the effects of typical sleeping arrangements and deviations from these arrangements on the physiological arousal of infants during sleep.
Does unsettled sleep lead to later emotional problems? Should parents take a hard line and do what is necessary to build up more "settled" or solitary sleep?
Most people think toddlers should be sleeping through the night and that any wakings reflect some fault of the parents. New research on toddler sleep suggests otherwise.
Lots of people believe that our toddlers need to sleep through the night for their development, but does new research actually support this?
We have all been told that we have to be consistent and firm with our kids. Yet we don't have to and sometimes that's not even the right thing to do.
When our babies and children start resisting sleep, we often double down on our efforts to "get" them to sleep. But what if it's really all about letting go?
New research suggests that extremely unsettled babies have a much higher risk of mental health problems in childhood. The question is now what we do with this, and I have a few ideas.