5 Ways to improve your child’s sleep before you return to work
Coping with sleep deprivation seemed to be semi-manageable whilst you were on maternity leave. You have been able to decide when you get dressed, which groups to join, when to meet friends. If this is your first baby, there has been no pressure to leave the house for a certain time.
Now your maternity leave is coming to an end, you now feel full of dread, anxiety and worry, wondering how you will cope with parenting, working, being up through the night and/or up at 5am.
The truth is sleep deprivation is a killer when it comes to returning to work. It prevents you from reaching optimum productivity and certainly makes it very challenging to feel motivated. If you have a job where you physically or emotionally look after others, you maybe thinking “How can I take care of or make decision regarding others, when I feel all over the place myself”.
I’d love to give you 5 key tips on how to help your child to sleep through the night by the time you return to work.
Act Fast
My first tip is, do not wait until you are already back at work to improve your child’s sleep. It is so much harder to sleep coach your child, when you the new extra pressure of parenting and working. Just imagine, being up as much as you are right now, working all day, then coming back home to sleep coach your child with no energy. The truth is gentle sleep coaching works, but it takes time to reap the rewards. On top of this, you need the headspace and a little energy to work on your child’s sleep. Trust me, it is easier to do this, without the pressures of work thrown into the mix
Filling your cup
Right now, whilst you are sleep deprived, your cup is pretty much empty. You have nothing left to give anyone. This is because sleep is one of the main pillars of your health, without it, life can feel impossible. For those that are familiar with Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, Maslow demonstrated that as humans our physiological needs must be met first before. In order to survive and thrive in other areas of our life such as relationships and work, we must good quality sleep, clothing, shelter and nutrition. Your sleep deprivation can be temporary if you choose it to be. If you can whilst you are sleep deprived be sure to drink lots of water, eat mostly healthy food and take good quality supplements, such as multi vitamin, Vitamin D3, Omega 3, probiotic and Ashwaghanda for low mood/depression. If you are in the UK, I can highly recommend Cytoplan, and you can use this code to receive discount off your first order CYT143143-35-10
Temperature
The ideal room temperature for a child’s sleep environment is 16-18 C / 60-64 F (In the UK without air conditioning). If you live in a hot country with air conditioning then this may differ, however the idea is that the cooler the room the better for sleep. If your child’s sleep space is too hot or cold, then this can hinder your child’s chances of having a good night sleep. In cold countries, I recommend no heating in bedrooms, unless your house drops below 16C/60F. Instead, dress your baby, toddler or child in appropriate layers and bedtime clothing. The best bedtime clothing materials are 100% cotton or merino wool (Check out Merino Kids). There are many charts on the internet that indicate how many layers your baby should wear to bed, however each child, house and country are different. Therefore I recommend that you feel your child’s chest and back, if it is clammy and warm, then your child is too hot. Or if it is cool, then your child needs further layers.
Naps
Ensuring your child has good quality naps, which are appropriately timed can help your child to wake less at night. Most babies and toddlers who are not napping or cat napping are usually overtired, which one of the main reasons they are waking at night. This is because overtired children tend to have excess cortisol (the awake hormone), which results in crashing to sleep and then waking frequently. Most of my clients find it useful once their baby is closer to 1 years of age to introduce more of a structured nap schedule to ensure they do not become overtired. Checkout my blogs below with my suggested awake windows - these are a guide, as each child has different sleep needs. How much does my baby need to nap? and Does my toddler need to nap?
Self Regulation
If you are currently helping your child to fall asleep for example by feeding, rocking, cuddling, swaying or using a dummy, then you are helping your child to self regulate so they fall asleep (known as a sleep association). There is nothing wrong with any of these safe and nurturing methods of helping your child to fall asleep, and if these methods are working for you then stick with them. However, if they are no longer working, your child is waking frequently at night or you need your child to fall asleep without you when you return to work, then now is the time to try something new. It is worth bearing in mind that sleep associations can also contribute to night wakings, this is due to your child needing whatever they required at bedtime (or start of nap time) to fall back to sleep when they transition through their sleep cycles. In order to change the way your child falls asleep, then I recommend using a gentle sleep coaching technique to gradually wean your child off the sleep association at bedtime first.
Check out my blog on How to gently stop feeding your baby or child to sleep
If you are returning to work very soon, and your child is waking very frequently in the night, then I highly recommend taking the first step by booking in for a free sleep consultation with me. I have helped hundreds of women across the globe return to work with more hours of sleep at night. Equally, if you have returned to work, please do not worry it is too late, it maybe more tricky but I can definitely give you the tools you need to improve your child’s sleep asap.
