"...Chances are
if you have a small child or children you
are woefully lacking in sleep.
I remember this period of time in my life
well. One day I was driving in my car, a
gray Subaru station wagon, to my friend Siri’s
house. My baby boy was in the car seat in
the back. I think I was going to pick up
a breast pump or have a cup of tea or something.
My baby was about 3 months old. I got to
Siri’s street, and there, in front
of her house, was a gray Subaru station wagon.
I was very tired. I thought, "Oh. I
guess I’m already here." There
was a way that my brain understood this.
Like in a dream where things that couldn’t
possibly BE are absolutely true, I thought
perhaps that I had forgotten and somehow
already come to Siri’s and parked that
other Subaru station wagon that looked so
dreamily like my own...
What was I thinking?
It was baby blur at its most intense. As
I parked and sat there
to contemplate what my sleepy brain was
trying to describe to me as reality, I
got kind
of scared, the way I got scared when I
would notice that at a red light I would
say to
myself, "Oh good. I can take a little
nap 'til it turns green."
What’s
most bizarre is that the sleep loss suffered
from caring for small children
can make a person so illogical, at precisely
the time in her life when she needs to
be the most logical of all... the most
responsible,
logical and strong person the world can
imagine in order to care for a troupe of
tiny people
who are barely logical, and very, very
curious.”
—by Nanci Olesen
NOW YOU MOMbo: The Sleep Show
(NOTE:
Several books are referred to within this
program. Attitudes toward sleep patterns
and bedtime rituals vary widely in our
country and it is important for
each family to find what feels right to them. Here’s a quote from the
show:
"I don’t know...welcome to
parenthood for god’s sake, where
you have to choose how you’re going
to do what you’re going to do from
a bunch of conflicting information, your
own experiences, and from the many influences
around you.
Like life, only harder.” —Nanci
Olesen)
Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy
Child, by Marc Weissbluth
This book presents a very careful pattern of how to get a baby to sleep
consistently. Check out this link to see an interview with Dr. Weissbluth:
http://www.dadmag.com/dadskills/doctordad.php
Solve
Your Child’s Sleep Problems, by Dr. Richard Ferber.
Richard Ferber is director of the Center for Pediatric Sleep Disorders
at Children's Hospital in Boston. Since writing his book, he's become
known as a leading—and
controversial—pediatric sleep expert. The "Ferber Method" involves
allowing your child to cry herself to sleep. The parent visits to comfort
the child at intervals.
To many parents, this method is the one
that helped reclaim family sanity and sleep.
Here’s
a link that I recommend:
http://www.babycenter.com/refcap/baby/babysleep/3522.html
Attachment Parenting, by Katie Allison Granju
Katie is a strong voice in the Attachment
Parenting movement. This book provides
the definition and style of attachment
parenting. Sleeping
with
your baby
is advocated by attachment parents, and Katie lets us know why she
feels this
works well. READ THIS GREAT INTERVIEW WITH KATIE.
Our
Babies, Ourselves, by Meredith Small
Meredith Small examines our culture's traditional views on parenting
and suggests that we reconsider them. Although "sleep
methods" are not addressed
in this review, here’s a link to a review that I found helpful:
http://www.zona-pellucida.com/kidsbiologyculture.html
Good Nights: The Happy Parents' Guide
to the Family Bed (and a Peaceful Night's
Sleep!) by Dr. Jay Gordon
Here’s the link to Dr. Jay Gordon’s
site. He is a friendly and happy attachment
parent, who feels that establishing a
family bed
is a comfortable
and easy thing for a family to do.
I like his cheerful attitude and I think he has a lot of sound advice.
http://www.drjaygordon.com/
The
Pediatric Sleep Disorders Program at Children's Hospitals and Clinics—St.
Paul, Minnesota
In the Sleep Show, host Nanci Olesen interviews
Dr. John Garcia, who is a specialist with
The Pediatric Sleep Disorders Program
in St. Paul.
Drs.
John
Garcia and
Gerald Rosen are both board certified in pediatrics and sleep medicine.
Rosen and Garcia each blend a pediatrician’s knowledge of
children and families with specialized expertise in the relatively
new science of sleep medicine. This
is the kind of help a parent might seek if she is finding that
her child is suffering from lack of sleep or is having a particularly
hard time establishing a sleep
routine. To contact the Pediatric Sleep Disorders Program Children’s
Hospitals and Clinics, St. Paul, call 651-220-6258. The website
for Children’s is: http://www.childrenshc.org.
"As you can tell, you have some work
to do, people. You have to look into
your
own heart and figure
out what’s right
for you, your partner, and your kids. And you know what? It’s
all surrounded by controversy. Perhaps you’ll find if you
venture into a discussion about sleep patterns and habits and methods
that people around you will have lots of
different ideas. It’s enough to make you want to take a
nap...." —Nanci Olesen
1)
introduction: Nanci Olesen
2) Interview
with Dr. John Garcia, Pediatric Sleep
Disorders Clinic
JB Mclain
3) Sleep book recommendations:
Nanci Olesen
4) interview with Lisa Perez,
mom, writer
5) "Our Spaceship"
commentary by Kristen Froebel (7:24)
6)
credits and parting words: Nanci Olesen
"Lullaby
for Mama" Linda Breitag and Sophie
Breitag-Makeever
"Just Got Up" JB McLain
from The Mystery
"Hold our mamas tight" written
and sung by Nora and Léne Epp. |
