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from the zzzzzz-WAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! dept.
Some Soylentils have managed to reproduce, so this study, which has findings on how to keep the young ones keep sleeping through the night, might be useful.
Overall, studies indicate that 15 to 20 percent of one to three year olds continue to have nightwakings. According to Stephanie Zandieh, M.D., Director, Pediatric Sleep Disorders and Apnea Center, The Valley Hospital, "Inappropriate sleep associations are the primary cause of frequent nightwakings. Sleep associations are those conditions that are habitually present at the time of sleep onset and in the presence of which the infant or child has learned to fall asleep. These same conditions are then required in order for the infant or child to fall back to sleep following periodic normal nighttime arousals."
Sleep associations can be appropriate (e.g., thumb sucking) or problematic (e.g., rocking, nursing, parental presence). "Problematic sleep associations are those that require parental intervention and thus cannot be reestablished independently by the child upon awakening during the night," adds Dr. Zandieh.
Here are some helpful tips to help your child sleep through the night:
Every child is different, but the techniques seem sensible and worth trying, such as giving them a security blanket (or teddy bear, etc) when being put to bed to signal it's time to sleep.
(Score: 2) by Techwolf on Wednesday January 04 2017, @12:18AM
Why isolate the child or baby from the parents for sleep? I'me sure during caveman days, they did not have cribs to put kids into. I think this may have something to do with it.
(Score: 3, Funny) by bob_super on Wednesday January 04 2017, @12:26AM
In the meantime, we built a society where people do go to bed later than the sunset and their children.
And we somehow invented a mild disapproval for clubbing noisy brats over the head to help them sleep.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by mth on Wednesday January 04 2017, @12:49AM
It also seems strange to me why they would call sleep associations that require a parent "problematic"; inconvenient for the parent maybe, not I don't see why they'd be inherently bad.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by AthanasiusKircher on Wednesday January 04 2017, @03:30AM
I have to agree with this. There are all sorts of judgmental folks who have opinions about the "correct" way to parent or what is "problematic" (generally with no conclusive studies ever backing it up). Kids have been raised in all sorts of different ways in all sorts of different cultures over the millennia, and most of the judgmental stuff comes from cultural traditions or opinions, rather than clear evidence of any harm (or benefit) to the child.
With my son, we "fought the good fight" for trying to get him to go to sleep by himself for many months. Sometimes it would seem to work for a couple weeks, and then we'd be back to a kid who would rather scream for a long time rather than go to sleep in a room by himself. It was not only exhausting (woken up at odd hours all the time), but stressful.
Sometime around the time he turned 1, we just started doing co-sleeping. Once he was used to it, it frequently would only take 5-10 minutes with one of us before he was SOUND asleep and would stay that way for several hours, so we could get back up and do what we wanted. He slept through the night a lot better, with few issues. And he kept sleeping with us until close to the time he was 3, where he finally became interested in sleeping in the "big boy bed" (toddler bed) we got for him. And then we'd stay in the room with him for a couple minutes, and again he was usually "out" quite quickly.
(And just to note: Though co-sleeping is a less frequent choice in modern Western society, it was the norm before we all adopted this idea of separate "cribs" for infants and toddlers sometime in the 19th century in Western society for middle and lower classes. Co-sleeping still is the norm in most parts of the world, particularly outside of Europe and North America.)
One thing I learned during my first year as a parent was -- just don't judge other parents. Unless they're actually physically abusing a kid or something, I'm not going to judge anybody's choices or methods to figure out what works best for their family. Even within a family, every kid is often different.
For some people, they believe that having a kid "put himself to sleep" even when still an infant is some sort of achievement. For some, the annoyance of having to stay with kids for a few minutes at bedtime is a problem. For others, they don't mind the time. For other parents, they keep lying down with their kids as they go to sleep until they're 6 or 7 or whatever. Over the years, I've talked to a lot of other parents, and I've heard all sorts of opinions, but I'm pretty sure there's no psychological or developmental study that shows any particular "method" is going to guarantee a better outcome or whatever... it's just between you and your kid to "figure it out."
(Score: 3, Insightful) by mechanicjay on Wednesday January 04 2017, @12:59AM
Inclined to agree. There's thousands of years of evolution, which the invention of the electrified suburban existence has a hard time competing against.
Our 3 year old wakes up at about midnight and comes to our bed. Every night. Our just 6 year old stays in his own bed all night now, but when he was 3, he did the same. Slowly but surely his "waking" time got later and later, stuck at 4am for a long time and now, is basically until it's time to getup for school. We read and stay with our kids until they go to sleep every night, usually only about 20 minutes. Though we're starting to pull back on that with the 6 year old, because he just doesn't need it any more, though some nights he does...and that's okay too. They're only kids once, if you can't be arsed to give them the love and attention they desperately need in the first handful of years, don't bother pro-creating. They're kids, they need to feel safe and protected. Lest you think we're over protective of them, we always encourage them to do stuff for themselves back way the hell off when they demand to do something themselves -- give them the love and support they need so that they're not afraid to try and fail and learn and try again and finally, most importantly, so that they're not afraid to ask you for help when they need it. Not saying that staying with them till they sleep is the deciding factor here, but it's definitely a component of an overall parenting philosophy, which so far is working out pretty well for us.
My VMS box beat up your Windows box.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by jdavidb on Wednesday January 04 2017, @01:23AM
I read to my children most nights right after they go to bed. Typically I read to them awhile, then put on an audiobook or sometimes music, and I usually sit near them for awhile, surfing the net on my laptop. The original reason this worked out this way was because we couldn't get them to stay in bed when they were younger, but all our children seem to enjoy and appreciate it. Originally I used to sit stressing and doing nothing which was miserable for me and for them. Then I decided having a laptop to read from and surf on wasn't a bright enough light it would prevent them from sleeping, and it was tranquilizing for them (and for me).
ⓋⒶ☮✝🕊 Secession is the right of all sentient beings
(Score: 4, Informative) by microtodd on Wednesday January 04 2017, @02:39AM
(posting anonymously cause I'm embarrassed)
To be bluntly honest? Sex. I can't have sex with my wife when the kids co-sleep with us.
(Score: 5, Funny) by microtodd on Wednesday January 04 2017, @02:41AM
.......well shit
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 04 2017, @03:05AM
Because your wife laughs that the baby is more hung than you?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 04 2017, @03:33AM
Not called microtodd for nothing, you know.
(Score: 2) by AthanasiusKircher on Wednesday January 04 2017, @03:44AM
Just to note -- it is generally possible to find somewhere else for parents to do what they want. Get creative! Surely you must have had sex somewhere else than the bed before the kid came along? Most young kids tend to go into a very deep sleep (particularly if they're really tired) soon after they first fall asleep. So parents can get up, go someplace else, and do what they want. Or schedule your "private time" during the kid's afternoon nap. Or whatever.
Also, this is probably a little less likely for people raised in modern Western culture to believe, but until the 19th century, most families just shared a bed. When Mom and Dad wanted to do something else late at night, they'd just roll over together and do it. It's a modern prudishness about sex and the belief that somehow kids can't be exposed to it that leads to these conundrums.
Nevertheless, I probably can't recommend the practice nowadays, even if it's what people did for thousands of years. Today, you'd probably be branded a "pervert" of some sort and have Child Protection Services showing up at your door if anyone discovered parents doing a natural act in bed next to a sleeping child.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 04 2017, @07:26AM
Actually, You might be onto something. If the woman is a screamer, that might also explain why kids can't sleep.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 04 2017, @03:05AM
Because they didn't have soft beds either. Now you can roll over and suffocate the baby in your sleep. Also we don't know how caveman raised their babies.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 04 2017, @07:26AM
I'me sure during caveman days, they did not have cribs to put kids into.
Beep, naturalist fallacy. Just because something "has always been that" because "evolution made it so" doesn't mean it's a good thing. Rape is natural too.
(Score: 1) by mechanicjay on Wednesday January 04 2017, @04:31PM
Boop, modernist fallacy. Just because something is new and different doesn’t mean it's a good thing.
My VMS box beat up your Windows box.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Bot on Wednesday January 04 2017, @04:32PM
My AI web search found a certain pediatrician doctor Benjamin Spock, who found a surefire method to put the child to rest by a certain vulcanian nerve pinch.
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