Sleep

“I cannot emphasize enough how important it is for parents to start early to help their child learn to sleep well. When you start early, there are no long bouts of crying and no problems with sleeping. The process of falling asleep unassisted is a skill, and as with any other skill, it is easier to teach good habits first than it is to correct bad habits later. Also, as with any other skills, success comes only after a period of practice…

To maintain healthy sleep for your young child, you need the courage to be firm without feeling guilt or fear that she will resent you or love you less. In fact, the best prescription I can offer is to create a loving home with a well-rested child and well-rested parents.”

– Dr. Marc Weissbluth, M.D. of Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child (1987), page 13

“We know that the process of falling asleep and staying asleep is learned behavior, and that the learning will occur naturally, just like learning how to walk, if parents do not interfere. Difficulties in learning how to walk used to occur when walkers were popular, because they interfered with the natural evolution of a normal gait. Difficulties in learning how to sleep occur when parents do not respect and protect the child’s natural, periodic need to sleep. With practice, all parents will clearly see that perfect timing produces no crying!”

– Dr. Marc Weissbluth, M.D. of Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child (1987), page xxi

“Of course, children will spontaneously fall asleep when totally exhausted — “crashing” is a biological necessity! But this is unhealthy, because extreme fatigue (often identified by “wired” behavior immediately preceding the crash) interferes with normal social interactions and even learning. You should not assume that it is “natural” for all children to get peevish, irritable, or cranky at the end of the day. Well-rested children do not behave this way.”

– Dr. Marc Weissbluth, M.D. of Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child (1987), page 5

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