We all love it when our babies sleep 12, 11 or 10 hours straight. And we wish it would be like that all the time, but sometimes our 12-hour sleeper begins to wake up at 5:45, then 5:20 and so on. Early morning wakes are extremely difficult for parents. Who wants to get up at 5am? No one!
As a sleep consultant, an important part of my job is to teach families about the ways in which a child’s lack of sleep can impact the health and well-being of the family as a whole. Children who are well rested have been shown to demonstrate fewer behavioural problems, better appetites, stronger immune systems, improved cognitive functioning and have less mood swings.
OK Healthy Moms, Daylight Savings Time will soon be upon us! We have some good news, and some bad news. The bad news is that it’s going to start getting dark at 4:30pm in the next little while – there’s just nothing we can do about that. The good news is that the interruption in your little one’s sleep, thanks to daylight savings, doesn’t have to last for long!
For parents and children alike, the return to work at the end of a parental leave can be a difficult adjustment (read: hourly trips to the bathroom to cry). You may have spent the past year dreading the end of your leave. Or, you may be desperate for some time alone at the office with a hot coffee and tasks that do not involve wiping faces or bums. Both instincts are natural! Either way, if you’re getting ready to go back to work, you’ve got some planning to do.
Last week, I was on vacation with my family at a resort in Northern Ontario. A little before 7pm, I was starting to think about what to have for dinner, while my kids, still in their swimsuits, were playing barefoot soccer on the grass. A young man and woman, along with their one year old son, emerged from the cabin next door. The little guy was in his jammies, and the parents were allowing him a few more minutes outside before heading back indoors for bedtime. I looked at my watch and realized how late it had become, and we were not even close to bedtime!
