How do you sleep at night?
What do you do to get your child do this, or do that during the day?
My baby wakes up throughout the night, and i'm so tiered, what do I do?
There are many answers, but a particular answer that I will emphasize is the importance of a CONSISTENT routine.
--A routine allows the child to predict what is expected from him/her
--Consistent routines gives children confidence because they can expect what is going to happen
--Routines allow children to be secured because they can depend and trust that things will happen when they are supposed to
children may not understand time [we eat at 8:30 then play at 9:30], but they can grasp sequences when they are consistent and dependable [playing will happen after I eat breakfast]
An outline of what roughly goes on throughout our day
7:30 to 8:30 -- Lyna and I wake up.
**Often times Lyna wakes up first,
so I allow her to stay in the room and
play with the toys and books in our room
8:30 to 9:30 -- we get ready for the day
**We take care of our body = Change Lyna's diaper,
use the toilet, brush our teeth, put up our hair,
and get dressed.
Often times I struggle with Lyna in caring for her body,
so the main thing I at least do at this time is
change her diaper and wash her hands so
that she will be comfortable helping me with breakfast.
9:15 to 10:15-- We make breakfast and eat
Simple breakfasts, like cereal, I allow Lyna to help me with.
--> Lately I have been working with Lyna in making pancakes.
Because our stove top is smooth surfaces, Lyna has encountered
a moment where she touched the stove top when it was cooling,
so I am allowing her to overcome her fears, and when she is ready,
I will help her with cooking on the stove, but for now she helps me with
the measuring, stirring, mixing, and so on.
**Theorist, Abraham Maslow organized a hierarchy of need
-Google Search = Maslow
Now I mention Maslow because as I said, sometimes
I struggle with Lyna, and in Maslow's hierarchy of needs,
he theorized that in order for Lyna to focus on a task
and perform it creatively and attentively, her physical needs
need to be met first.
So in this routine she has her sleep,
but now she must be hungry because
she hasn't eaten since the night before.
**So just remember that if your child is unwilling to cooperate
with you and is giving you a rough time, try to meet his physical needs,
and work your way up the hierarchy of needs until your child can function with self-confidence
-->It doesn't hurt to try.
10:30 to 12:00 -- We play
When weather permits we would go to the beach
park, playground, walking around our neighborhood,
take a trip to the grocery store [because its hot, and the store is cool]
When the weather is not so happy, we may take a car ride [if we have gas],
we would bake indoors, we would go to a library, we would
jump [i bought a mini trampoline about 36 inches in diameter off of
Amazon for 30 dollars, it comes in handy when its raining outdoors and
your child needs to get his energy out], and depending on the weather I allow
Lyna to go outside in the rain, to discover it.
12:00 to 1:00 -- We care for our body and eat lunch
We change diaper, use the toilet, and wash our hands.
Most likely I would warm up left overs from the night before because giving Lyna
the same food would help her become familiar with it.
**Also I try to care for Lyna's teeth after every meal
to practice good hygiene. Also because her hygienist
and doctor suggested I do so, so that her teeth is healthy and strong
1:00 to 3:00 -- We relax, and take a nap
Majority of the time, Lyna is tiered and will go to sleep.
Often times she is not, so I allow her to play in our bedroom with her
puzzles, toys, and books [quiet games], and I would do homework until
she is ready to rest. Her naps range from 1 to 2 hours, but I add in
that quiet play time to be flexible.
3:00 to 4:30 -- We wake up, and have a snack
Waking up takes time, Lyna likes to lounge around when she wakes up,
so I give her time to.
As I mentioned physical needs must be met, so after I
care for Lyna's body by changing her diaper and washing hands
I would offer her a snack.
4:30 to 6:00 -- I will cook and Lyna will play
By this time family should be coming home, so they
like to spend time with Lyna.
But sometimes I am alone, I need to cook, and so I allow Lyna to play
as I cook, so as I said I have a trampoline
that I allow Lyna to play on, I also have a tunnel [also bought
from Amazon for about $15] that I allow Lyna to play with, I also have duplos
and a tea set for Lyna [Ross is cheap for children's toys compared to Walmart, in my opinion].
6:00 to 8:00 -- We eat dinner and take care of our body
Before dinner we change diaper and wash hands
We eat dinner
Then we would shower.
**often times not in that order, but those are the
things we do at this time.
8:00 to 10:00 -- Free time: we play and we relax
Sometimes we go for a walk, other times we relax and do
our own things, and often times we would play games
and talk story with the company in our home, and sometimes we bake
or the opposite we clean.
We fold our laundry, we put away toys from the day,
we wash the dishes [all which are things that I include Lyna with]
9:00 to 11:00 -- We prepare to sleep for the night
We get things we need ready for the next day
and we get ready to sleep, by reading bedtime stories,
and listen to music, sometimes we sing.
[I try to stay away from the television during the time
we are trying to sleep because I have read studies that show
your mind and parts of your body is still awake, therefore sleeping
is hard to accomplish]
TELEVISION = Hard to sleep.
Some things to remember
Involve infants and toddlers in things that concern them. Don't work around them or distract them to get the job done faster.
Communicate and interact with your child during times you care for your child's body is a one to one time with your child, so take that time to bond with one another and communicate about what is happening, and maybe what will happen after.
Dont be afraid of messes, allow your child to make a mess and do things on their own, it promotes self-help skills skills that allow your child to do things on his own.
-- Gonzalez-Mena, Janet & Eyer, Dianne Wildmeyer. Infant, Toddler, and Caregivers: A curriculum of respectful, responsive, relationship-based care and education. Mc-Graw Hill, New York, NY, 2012.
By: Jadelynn Davis
May 3, 2012
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