“If infant care is going to disrupt sleep? Why should we bother fostering healthy sleep habits now?”
Short answer – because sleep is vital for our well-being and we need it to ensure our kids grow up and develop well and strong!
How do we manage it then? Follow on below!
Here are some tips to help manage the transition to infant care and sleep!
1. Where possible, try and ease your child into infant care by doing one of either two things (or both):
- Start off by having a reduced number of days per week to ease your child into infant care, gradually work up to the required number of days e.g. 2 days a week, 4 days a week then finally 5 days a week
- Where possible, try and pick your child up earlier rather than a full day of care when you first start just to ease them into it – they can either nap at home or have an earlier bedtime!
2. Take the recorded nap times with a pinch of salt – it will be harder for educators to track your child’s sleep so it may not always be very accurate
3. Practice early bedtimes on the weekend to allow for them to compensate for the increase in activity and stimulation while in infant care
4. Pay special attention to your child’s sleep cues or wake windows and if they are showing tired signs earlier than normal – put them to bed!
- Infant care or if your child is starting school for the first time – is TIRING! Watch your child’s tired signs and behaviours and if need be, put them to bed earlier for the night to ensure they get adequate rest
Finding it hard to pick up the right tired signs? Unsure how to manage sleep while juggling your child’s new schedule? Book in now for a FREE 20-Min discovery call and let us help you END your sleep struggles NOW! 😊