Early Rising Question for a 3 year old

Rachel asked:
“Good morning, Tracy! I have another early riser question. My ds (dear son)  is 3 years old, does not nap, goes to sleep well at 7 and then gets up every morning between 4-5:30. Please help!!!”
  • It’s possible he is early rising because he still needs some day sleep. Try offering a ‘rest time’ daily and he can hang out on his bed with a book or a toy and either rest or sleep. Sometimes he may play or sometimes he may sleep. 1 pm is a good time. Watch his body language to see if there is a slowing down time. That will be the best time. Also, be consistent about how you respond to the early waking. That’s where you could use a sleep plan method like the sleep lady shuffle to encourage back to sleep. 
    A wake-up light may help too. One that doesn’t light up at night. A low watt lamp on an appliance timer like the one you use for Christmas lights works great. Not so bright it wakes him but is a signal he understands if he wakes up.
    Reinforce the sleep manners you expect with a consistent response, like bringing him back to bed or the sleep lady shuffle.
    Post your questions here on my facebook page or call me to talk about consultation possibilities. 602-524-7610 www.GetQuietNights.com

Nap Transitions

Questions Asked:
My daughter Ayven is 17 months and has been a great sleeper thanks to you! We are now transitioning to 1 nap – any tips on the best way to do this and is there a best time for that once a day nap? Rises at 6:30 bed at 7pm used to nap 9-945 (we’d wake her) and then in the afternoon going down between 1:30 and 3 depending on our plans for the day and would usually nap 1.5-2 hours. Any tips would be appreciated!
My Answer:
The afternoon nap may lengthen. One way to transition is to drop the am nap and switch it to a cat nap (20-30 min). 1 pm may be a good time for your afternoon nap. The transition period can be long and there are a few ways to do it but this is my favorite one to try first.
If you need sleep help, I do personal consultations.
Tracy Spackman 602-524-7610
Tracy@GetQuietNights.com
www.GetQuietNights.com

"My 2 year old was a great sleeper and now for the past 2 weeks has been having sleep issues. Why?"

Great Question from my Mom’s club talk:
“My 2 year old was a great sleeper and now for the past 2 weeks has been having sleep issues. Why?”
This is a common question. Sometimes, you just get a string of bad luck when you have even just 2 nights in a row of disrupted sleep, from maybe a cold or thunderstorms or summer guests and your response of bringing to bed with your of staying with them while they fall asleep is enough to create a new “conditioned response”. If toddlers, or older children have 2 or more disrupted nights in a row, they may start getting anxious about sleep. After 2 weeks has gone by, you may have forgotten the cause of the sleep stress. A manners chart to help focus on good sleep habits may help a lot. If you need sleep help, call me, Text me.
Tracy Spackman 602-524-7610
Tracy@GetQuietNights.com
www.GetQuietNights.com

Back to School Bedtimes

Have your kids gone back to school? Planning to go soon? Take a good look at their bedtime. Do you know if your child is a 10, 11 or 12 hour sleeper for optimum benefit? If your child has a meltdown about having to write a few sentences about their summer for homework, chances are they are not getting enough sleep. Thinking of ideas to write about when writing is still a challenge for kindergarten-3rd grade kids, getting enough sleep can make all the difference. 11 hours is a common amount of sleep to need for young school aged kids. Teens typically need 9 hours. If you need sleep help, check out my website.
www.GetQuietNights.com

Not ready to commit to a plan or a sleep package?

Get a group together and we can do a group workshop. Minimum 5 people/couples. This would be different than the free talk I give to Mom’s groups. We will talk specifics and methods that you can implement immediately. If you have 5 or more people, the host gets to come free. $50 per family. Runs about 2 hours. Follow up support is available a la crate.
Workshop fee will be deducted from full package price if you choose to get a personal consultation afterwards.
A good sleep makes a world of difference.
Tracy Spackman
www.GetQuietNights.com
 

Reaction of a 5 Year Old

A 5 year old’s morning response to sleep coaching day 6 after lots of resisting last night, “That was the best sleep I’ve had in weeks!” Mom said, “That was the best sleep you have had in your life!”
I know it’s only going to get better for them.  This family has had trouble with sleep for a long time and needed to lay with their child to help her fall asleep and she repeatedly came to their bed in the middle of the night.  Sound familiar?
For sleep help, call me 602-524-7610, email me Tracy@GetQuietNights.com  www.GetQuietNights.com

My latest question was "How exactly do you help us get sleep?"

My latest question was “How exactly do you help us get sleep?” Great Question! First I can give you a free call for a few minutes to talk about what is going on with your child’s sleep. Then, you choose a package from my website, I send you a sleep history questionnaire to fill out to add to the details I got from you over the phone so I can get a good overview of your sleep situation. Then I create a personalized sleep plan for you giving you step by step instructions to follow to get you to sleeping through the night or whatever your goals are. We will then have a consultation in person or over the phone. Then, the day after you start your plan, we talk about how the first night went and further personalize the plan depending how it went. Then we continue to talk and email and skype and text as you go through your plan. The amount of support you have during your plan implementation depends on the support package you buy. Yes, you can start small and upgrade.
I teach you how to teach your child how to get good sleep. You will learn how to support and respond in a manner that progresses towards good sleep skills. It’s gentle, responsive and scientific. I use evidence based methods that are proven to work. I have been there with children who don’t sleep. I have personally experienced most of the scenarios my families bring to me. I wish I had a sleep coach when my children were young. I have 5 children and although that certainly helps me be a good sleep coach, I am extensively trained and my success track record is amazing.

Radio Guest on Baby & Toddler Instructions Show with Blythe Lipman

Today I made my first radio appearance. I was a little nervous but once I start talking about sleep I just get on a roll.  You can hear the podcast here http://bit.ly/13aaPza .
I was a guest on Blythe Lipman’s show Baby & Toddler Instructions which broadcasts on www.Togenet.com on Wednesdays at 11am EST.  Or 8am Arizona time.  We talked about the common things that keep babies from sleeping, what I do, how I do it.  Who needs me and who doesn’t and funny stories about sleep coaching.  I’m a gentle sleep consultant which means I don’t use Cry It Out.
You can find me at www.GetQuietNights.com
Tracy Spackman

Daylight Savings and Sleep Shifting

Daylight savings changes are around the corner for many families and I’ve been helping families prepare for this change. Your 6:30 wake up is about to become a 5:30 wake up. Yikes!   Or maybe you have a 5:30 wake up and a 5:30-6pm bedtime and want to shift everything forward.  Totally Understandable!
The easiest way to handle the shift is to add a late afternoon nap that is a full sleep cycle that would push the bedtime later and then follow up the next day by pushing the naps and meals the same amount of time later. You may be able to jump a whole hour or you may be doing 15-30 min “baby” steps.

If you can’t get a late afternoon nap, start in the morning by pushing light exposure, breakfast and the first nap of the day 15-30 minutes later. Use a lot of distraction. It’s better to have an overtired morning nap that can get caught up over the day than an overtired bedtime that sabotages the whole night. Then keep that shifted schedule all day.
If your baby has good sleep habits and skills, then you may be able to just jump cold turkey to the new time and they will surprise you by adjusting faster than you do.
If this is not your only issue and you need sleep help, give me a call
-Tracy Spackman 602-524-7610 www.GetQuietNights.com
Follow me on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/QuietNights  to post questions and see how other families are doing with their sleep coaching.