Some of you may remember that I conducted an interview with Malia Jacobson about seventeen months ago at the launch of her first e-book, Ready, Set, Sleep, 50 Ways To Help Your Child Sleep So You Can Sleep Too.
Today I am thrilled to announce the launch of Malia’s second e-book, Sleep Tight Every Night, Helping Toddlers & Preschoolers Sleep Well Without Tears, Tricks or Tirades.
Malia is a nationally published health journalist, columnist, sleep expert, and freelance writer. Her articles on sleep and health appear regularly in national media outlets, including Women’s Health Magazine, Costco Connection Magazine, Pregnancy & Newborn Magazine, ABC News, and MSN Healthy Living, as well as over 80 regional parenting magazines across the US and Canada.
Malia appears regularly on television and speaks to parenting groups about healthy sleep support. She blogs about sleep and parenting at www.thewellrestedfamily.com, where she answers parents’ sleep questions in a popular “Ask Malia” series.
Know any parents who would like to get their babies or young children to go the heck to sleep? If so, check out some of Malia’s thoroughly researched sleep secrets right here.
Q. In the intro to Sleep Tight, you say that kids who sleep well through the night are in the minority. Why is this?
According to a new study from the University of Houston, 70 percent of children under 10 experience regular sleep problems. And I know from both my personal experiences as a mom and my professional life as a health and sleep journalist that the toddler and preschool years are a particularly tough time for sleep, simply because children change so quickly during this time period. They’re transitioning from a crib, dropping their nap, starting to have nightmares, potty training, sometimes learning to sleep alone or sleep near a sibling for the first time. They’re dealing with an astounding amount of change in a short time period, and that can be extremely hard on their sleep.
Q. What kinds of problems can crop up for kids who don’t sleep soundly?
Children who don’t sleep enough are at an increased risk for weight problems, diabetes, mood disorders, even ADHD. Doctors now know that some children who have been diagnosed with ADHD are actually just overtired—they call this syndrome of fatigue-induced hyperactivity “faux ADHD.”
Q. Just to hop backwards a bit and remind folks about your first e-book, Ready, Set, Sleep, what ended up becoming the advice readers appreciated most?
It’s hard to say; every reader seems to take something different from Ready, Set, Sleep, depending on their child’s age and stage. But people really seem to love the parts about gently shifting sleep associations, helping babies and toddlers learn to sleep in their beds, and how to handle tough stuff like screaming and crying at bedtime.
Q. You decided to write this second e-book because of the questions you received from readers of your first e-book? What were some of their biggest challenges that you address in Sleep Tight?
I tackle 12 common toddler and preschooler sleep problems in Sleep Tight, including helping kids learn to stay in their own beds all night, helping parents transition siblings to a shared bedroom, dropping the afternoon nap, learning to stay dry at night, and addressing nightmares, which begin to crop up around age 5 for many children.
Q. Are different kids wired for different sleep schedules?
Absolutely. In fact, learning about your own child’s unique sleep requirements is at the heart of many of my recommendations (and I tell parents just how to do that, quickly and easily). Mistaken beliefs about how much a child should be sleeping are a factor in well over half of the sleep questions I receive from parents—your unique child may need much more (or less) sleep than you think.
Q. One of the twelve topics you address in Sleep Tight is how to manage sleep for kids who are sharing bedrooms. If getting one child to sleep well is challenging, I can only imagine that getting two to sleep well in the same space in nearly impossible. Can you give us a few hints?
The biggest challenge parents often face is syncing up the sleep schedules the children who will be roommates. Siblings just a couple of years apart can have vastly different sleep needs, and wake up, nap, and go to sleep at different times at night. A room-sharing scenario works best when everyone hits the sack at the same time each night, so I walk parents through how to make this happen.
Q. Okay, Malia, you are a sleep expert and journalist. You know sleep advice like nobody’s business. If you were going to give just five pieces of advice to every parent about how to raise healthy sleepers, what would those five short tips be?
A child experiencing sleep problems is trying to tell you something. Instead of asking “Why is he doing this to me?,” flip the dialogue to focus on your child and his needs. What does he need sleep-wise that he is not getting, and how can you better support those needs?
Don’t rely on charts, books, or your friends to tell you how much sleep your child needs. Chart your child’s sleep to uncover how much sleep he or she really requires.
To avoid stealing from nighttime rest, don’t allow children to nap for more than two hours in the afternoon.
Don’t get married to the idea of a 7 p.m. bedtime, if that is no longer working for your child. Clinging to your child’s babyhood bedtime well into the toddler and preschool years can lead to a boatload of problems, from hours-long bedtimes to painfully early wakings.
You can’t force a child to sleep more than her personal sleep needs dictate. If your child is ready to give up his nap or no longer needs as much sleep as he once did, supporting his unique needs will bring success; fighting his needs will be miserable. I help parents work with the sleeper they have, not the sleeper they wish they had.
You can learn more about both of Malia’s awesome e-books, Ready, Set, Sleep: 50 Ways to Help Your Child Sleep So You Can Sleep Too and Sleep Tight, Every Night, Helping Toddlers & Preschoolers Sleep Well Without Tears, Tricks or Tirades at MaliaJacobson.com.
Help Malia end sleeplessness by spreading the word about Ready, Set, Sleep and Sleep Tight Every Night. And thanks for helping me support Malia’s second e-book launch!