CIO and Attachment: Is This What We Should Be Looking At?
Most people worry about sleep training affecting their attachment, but we don't see the in the literature. Why is that? And is that even what we should be concerned with?
Do Modern Sleep Interventions Increase Sleep? A New Meta-Analysis Says “No”
A new meta-analysis examines if sleep training methods to improve sleep actually work to, well, improve sleep. Guess what? They don't.
What Are the Effects of Maternal-Neonate Separation?
We often suggest separation of neonate and mother, even for small periods, but this isn't how we evolved and thus counters our biology. Research explored herein helps us better understand what the effects of that may be.
What Causes Toddler Sleep Resistance?
The common suggestion is akin to earlier sleep training with families insisting on children staying in bed, coming up with hall passes, and so on. But what if the problem isn’t behavioural? What if it’s actually biological? More specifically, physiological?
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.
Bedsharing and Later Mental Health: Cause for Concern or Not?
One article suggests a possible link between persistent bedsharing and worse mental health outcomes for children. Does it really say that? What does this data tell us and should parents be concerned? (Hint: no concern needed.)
The ‘Skill’ of Independent Sleep
Contrary to the idea of sleep being a skill, it's really the idea of independent sleep that is the skill to be taught because it counters human biology.
Extinction Sleep Training: The Role of Distress
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.
Health Professionals and Sleep Training
Too often health professionals promote sleep training without it being based on their expertise, but rather their personal beliefs. This leaves parents struggling.
Is Infant Sleep a Skill?
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.