Check Off Your Sleep Coaching Checklist
Before you officially begin the "sleep coaching" part of this boot camp, you need to make sure you've dotted your i's and crossed your t's so you can be well on your way to some serious zzzz's.
- Talk to your pediatrician and get the "green light" to start a sleep coaching program for your child. Have your doc rule out any underlying medical conditions that may be contributing to your child's sleep problems like reflux, asthma, allergies, ear infections, sleep apnea, etc. Most sleep problems are behavioral, not medical, but better safe than sorry. Make sure medications, including over-the-counter remedies, aren't disturbing her sleep.
- Check with the doc to see if you can stop night feedings. If you're feeding your baby during the night, ask your pediatrician if she thinks given the baby's age, weight and health whether he needs any calories at night. Review with your pediatrician how much your child is eating during his waking 12 hours.
- Make sure your kid's bedroom is sleep friendly.
- Review (or create if you haven't yet!) a comforting bedtime routine.
- Talk with your childcare providers. Work with babysitters and child care centers to develop consistent sleep rules and schedules. If your nanny can't handle sleep coaching, particularly nap training, which can be hard, do your best to work around her and improvise where you have to. Ask that she focus on "filling the day time sleep tank" any way she can.
- Continue keeping your sleep log and make sure that anyone else who puts your child to sleep jots their notes on there too.
- After reviewing your preliminary log, look for your child's natural bedtime window. Regulate your child's wake-up time between 6-7:30am. This is for kids over 5 months who are waking up at all different times; sometimes even sleeping until 9:30 which then throws off the entire next day and confuses their internal clocks.
- Decide WHEN you're going to begin sleep coaching your child. You want to start when you can expect about three weeks without any disruptions or major changes, including travel, moving, or having a new baby. If something unexpected occurs once you're in the middle of the program, such as illness, do the best you can to stick with it. You can plateau in your chair position until your child is feeling better.
Are you ready to get started? What do you still need to do to be good to go? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
More sleep advice articles:
- Commit to Getting Your Kid to Sleep
- Educate Yourself About Your Childs Sleep
- Start a Sleep Log
- The Importance of Consistency When Sleep Coaching
- Create a Soothing Bedtime Routine
- Create a Sleep-Friendly Bedroom
- The Importance of Putting Your Kid to Sleep "Drowsy but Awake"
- The Sleep Lady Shuffle: What It Is and How To Do It
- Do Step 1 of the Sleep Lady Shuffle
- Do Step 2 of the Sleep Lady Shuffle
- Do Step 3 of the Sleep Lady Shuffle
- Be Your Kid's Nap Coach
- Create a Solid Sleep Plan
- Nightmares and Night Terrors (And How to Tell the Difference)
- Potty Training and Sleep
- End Early Rising
- The Sleep Lady on Transitioning Your Kid from a Crib to a Big-Kid Bed
- Ending Bedtime Stalling
Answered by
Kim West, a.k.a. the Sleep Lady
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