This week, I talk to Bonnie Dimmick, a sleep consultant. We discuss strategies to help our children (of all ages) to sleep better, even if the dog is barking. These strategies will help your child to make positive associations with sleep and will help to build resilience.
Resources
Bonnie Dimmick is a Pediatric Sleep Consultant who focuses on respectful parenting philosophies, parent-child connection and gentle sleep strategies to help babies, toddlers and young children learn to sleep independently. She works with families in Denver and around the world who want to create sustainable independent sleep habits. Working with Bonnie, parents are able to find that middle ground between the ‘suck-it-up-and-wait’ and ‘cry-it-out’ approaches that fits their unique family and their sleep goals using holistic, respectful, developmentally appropriate and evidence-based methods. Bonnie is a Denver native and currently lives in Denver, Colorado with her husband, two young daughters and dog.
- You can find Bonnie at: www.sleeploveandhappiness.com
Summary
Helping our children learn to fall asleep on their own will help them to be more resilient. Here are some tips
- make sleep positive
- keep the room dark with few distractions
- use white noise
- allow dog to bark and do normal (even noisy) household tasks – if noise happens regularly, kids can learn to sleep through it
- if a child wakes, it’s okay to comfort them and encourage them to continue to rest
- when naps feel impossible, encourage rest time or quiet time instead
- self care matters for parents
- save super noisy or exciting games with your dog for when your child falls asleep at night time, when the sleep is deeper
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