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Inspired Living SA

Top South African Lifestyle Blog

You are here: Home / Archives for your parenting

Babies, Children, Family, Mothers, Parenting, Parenting Advice

Tips on Creating Healthy Sleep Habits for Your Child

Baby-Sleeping

How is your child sleeping? Give him the gift of a Good Night’s Sleep!

Sleep. We all need it, and we don’t know how important it is until we can’t get enough of it? Are you a mother? Then you know EXACTLY what I’m talking about.

Can you still remember what it feels like to look into your partner’s eyes? To have time to read a magazine, take a long bath and just generally have a life? Or are you constantly on pyjama drill? Wondering when this “punishment of motherhood” will end.

Sleep is vital for all humans to be healthy: it’s when we recharge so we’re at our personal best. Bad sleeping habits are linked to issues such as obesity, poor performance, ADHD, car accidents… to name just a few! If your child is not sleeping well, you’re likely not to either and this could be detrimental to your health as well as your child’s! However, if addressed early on, sleep problems can be overcome. The bad news is bad sleepers do not just “grow out of it”. But the good news is there is a lot you can do about it!

Here are a few myths about sleep that you need to be aware of:
Myth #1 ~ All soothers are good for my child’s sleeping habits.
Unfortunately not all soothers (be it a dummy, taglet blanket, moms fingers, milk) are good for your child’s sleeping habits. It depends on your child’s age and tendency’s, but chances are that he can use some of these to aid him/herself in falling asleep which never teaches him the skill of self-soothing.

Myth #2 ~ The later I put my child in bed and the more tired he gets during the day, the better he will sleep.

Actually it works the other way around. The better rested your child is, and putting him/her to bed at an appropriate bed time, actually makes them sleep better and longer.

Myth #3 ~ Some children are just bad sleepers and they will grow out of it eventually.

Did you know that studies have shown that adults who tend to have insomnia and bad sleeping habits were actually bad sleepers as children? Sleeping is actually a skill we need to teach our children, just like walking, eating and drinking. Your child will not grow out of it! The earlier you address it the better!

 

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Myth #4 ~ I can wait to start teaching my child the skills to sleep when he is older or on solids.

The fact of the matter is that we as parents interfere with our children’s healthy development of good sleep cycles. There is so much that we can do better from the day they are born to implement healthy sleep associations and awake-sleep cycles.

Myth #5 ~ The only way I can teach my child to self sooth is to leave him to cry-it-out.

Teaching your child to self sooth is not just a matter of leaving him to cry. There is so much that you can do as parent to follow a structured sleep plan that will give your child’s this skill. Sleep is influenced by so many things; stimulation, routine, feeding habits, bedtime, health, discipline, and a trained professional can help you to implement changes in your child’s life that learn him the art to self sooth. Remember that crying is your child’s way of protesting change, and not all crying is bad.

Myth #6 ~ It is selfish of me to want to have my child sleep through the night.
Remember that teaching your child self soothing strategies are not about you! Consolidated, uninterrupted 11/12 hours of sleep is what your child needs.

By taking the necessary steps to achieve restful, consolidated sleep for your child you will be giving them a skill they will carry with them throughout their lives. And this is truly a gift.

The Author Petro Thamm is a mom, and founder of Good Night Baby, a certified Sleep Sense Consultancy. For more help on sleep related matters for your baby and/or toddler, contact Petro via email at: [email protected], or you can visit their website by clicking here  or join their Facebook fan page.

Source: Information & Images from Goodnight Baby

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Be Inspired, Family, Mothers, My Top, Parenting, Parenting Advice, Pregnancy

My Top 4 Pregnancy Tips

Although pregnancy may be a bit of a distant memory for me now, I thought I would share My Top 4 Pregnancy Tips with you!

  • Read, read, read – be informed, as ‘they’ say knowledge is power. So read all the books you can get your hands on, find out all you need to know to make the correct pregnancy and birth choices, for you. {You can have an information overload at times and it may scare you initially but it is worth it in the long run, to know what to expect!}
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  • Ask questions, especially of moms that have been through it all already, most will be more than happy to share their experiences; you may just need to sift through some drama to get to the reality sometimes! Join an antenatal class, it’s a great place to meet other parents and discuss any of your fears or concerns.
  • Look after yourself – you are as important as your baby! Take time out for yourself, take your prenatal vitamins, rest, try to eat a healthy well-balanced diet {although sometimes the cravings will get the better of you!}, listen to your doctor he{or she} is usually right!
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  • Remember to enjoy every minute of your experience as a mom-to-be, talk to your unborn baby, play music for him/her, take time out to plan the nursery, enjoy shopping for those first precious little outfits – in other words remember to have some fun!
Recommended resources, books and magazines on pregnancy and parenting:
Your Parenting Website & magazine publications – they deal with all aspects of pregnancy and parenting.
Baby Sense Website & books – I read the original book and found it very helpful.
Living and Loving Website and magazine – I used to read the mag from cover to cover!
Parent Hub Website – lots of great, useful information for parents.
“Birth Your Way” & “The New Pregnancy and Childbirth” books by Sheila Kitzinger.
Images: ©FAR Photography
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Meet Fiona Rossiter

Hi, I am Fiona Rossiter, from Cape Town, the writer and photographer behind Inspired Living SA Blog. If you love good Food and Wine, reading amazing Travel Adventures, keeping Fit and Healthy, as well following Decor Trends – then Inspired Living SA is just the place for you! Read More…

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