An investment worth making.
Everything worth doing demands an investment. This investment may come in the form of time, of money, or of other valuable resources. The question before us today is: is investing in developing healthy sleep habits in your child from a young age a worthy investment? .
As with everything in parenthood, there is no one right way to approach managing your child’s sleep. You have to come to your own convictions about what you think is best for your child, your family, and your sanity. And there is always, always room to pivot! Maybe you do things differently with your first child than you do with your second, or in the first month than you do in the second. Whatever you do, let it be done in love and not fear, and know that there is an abundance of grace.
My goal as a sleep consultant is to equip you with the information that will help you to do just that. So that you can feel confident in the decisions that you make and equipped to adjust when it feels necessary.
In this blog post, you will find the reasons why I feel like your child’s sleep is a worthy investment by outlining its effects on 1) your baby, 2) your mental health, & 3) your family. You get to decide for yourself whether or not you think sleep is a worthy investment!
1). Your Baby
We all know what it is like to go without sleep for a stretch of time. It affects us physically and mentally. We are physically designed to need sleep. Which is great. Sleep is a beautiful thing. But just as we feel the effects of sleep deprivation, so do our babies. Of course, in the early weeks and months, a baby’s sleep is naturally going to be broken up by their need to constantly be fed due to the size of their tiny little tummies. But it is often the case that a baby that is classified as a “fussy baby” is really just a sleep deprived baby. Once healthy sleep habits are formed and babies begin sleeping an appropriate amount, their personality transforms, becoming more content and at ease. Every baby is different, it is true, but what is the same about every baby, is that they will all be negatively affected by a lack of sleep.
This isn’t just experience speaking (though experience does speak very loudly). This is science. The CDC notes that “Infants, children, and adolescents who do not get sufficient sleep are at increased risk for injuries, obesity, type 2 diabetes, poor mental health, attention and behavior problems, and poor cognitive development” (1).
When I say sleep is awesome, I mean sleep is really awesome. It is during these moments of repose that our bodies are hard at work, establishing foundations for appropriate growth and development. This is true especially for infants, who go through extensive development during their first year. Think about it, by 5 months, babies typically double their birth weight. The amazing thing is, about 80% of a very important growth hormone, somatotropin, which is responsible for linear growth in children, is released soon after they enter into non-REM sleep. If they do not receive adequate amounts of sleep, their physical growth may be stunted (2). Studies have also found that a severe lack of sleep in the first year can also lead to an increased risk of unhealthy weight gain down the road (2).
Along with their body, your baby’s brain is also growing at lightning speed during their first year of life! It too almost doubles in that first year, with the majority of the development happening during sleep. As one review of the effects of healthy sleep habits in infancy notes, “Several reports suggest that normal sleep development may be linked to higher mental development scores” (3).
The last aspect of sleep’s importance on your baby’s development that I want to mention here is its ability to contribute to a robust immune system. Raise your hand if you love when your infant gets sick! No one? Me neither. There is little that I love less than seeing my baby sick. Thankfully sleep is here to help! It is during sleep that your baby’s immune system is producing disease-fighting cells and oh-so-valuable antibodies. If your baby is not receiving enough sleep, their ability to fight off diseases will be compromised.
For all of these reasons (and many more), we love sleep and so do our babes! There is good reason for them to be sleeping away their days, their minds and their bodies are hard at work. We can help them greatly by creating an environment for them to get the sleep they need!
2). Your Mental Health
Your mental health is so important, not only because how you feel will inevitably affect your baby but simply because YOU are important. So much of that advice given to new parents concerning their infant’s sleep does not take into account the importance of caring for the parent. But at In Peace Sleep, we are dedicated to helping parents enjoy this precious and fleeting time of life. While some emotional lows are likely inevitable (hello, hormones!). Others can greatly be improved by your approach to your child’s sleep.
Maternal postpartum depression is most common during the first 6 months after delivery when we can expect sleep to be disrupted most (4). Continued infant sleep problems inevitably cause continued parental sleep problems and exhaustion. Exhaustion itself has long been associated with depressive feelings. And, as one study showed, emphasizing the connection between infant sleep problems and poor maternal postpartum, there is a positive association between the two variables. Meaning, that as infant sleep problems increase so does the presence of poor maternal mental health. This makes perfect sense given everything that we know about the function of sleep in both babies and adults.
We want you to have the best possible postpartum experience and, while sleep isn’t the answer to all postpartum woes, its presence or the lack thereof has the potential to greatly affect your ability to enjoy and care for your little one.
3). Your Family
Imagine predictably having every evening to spend with your spouse or older children, and knowing when you could depend on a nap-time to spend on yourself or other kiddos in the house. Sound too good to be true with a baby at home? In the words of a previous client of mine, “We went from co-sleeping, my baby taking frustratingly short naps that took place in her car seat, a bouncy seat or in my arms (wherever we could get her to sleep), an unknown schedule throughout the day and having no time with my husband at night because she would wake up in our bed and need me all night long… to: her sleeping consistently in her crib for every nap and night time sleep, knowing her schedule throughout the day, she’s sleeping uninterrupted through the night for 12 hours and having time with my husband at night that we haven’t had in years!!!”
It really is possible! And it is exactly what I want for you and your family. It is a gift to everyone in your home when there are predictable moments of undivided mommy attention (or when mom gets undivided attention for herself). When everyone feels better rested and more confident about the day to come, there is a greater capacity to handle the day’s emotions, whether good or bad. If you want that for yourself, your baby, and your family, then consider getting the help of a certified pediatric sleep consultant to establish health sleeping habits from infancy. Habits that will benefit everyone in your home for a lifetime to come!
Wheaton AG, Claussen AH. Short Sleep Duration Among Infants, Children, and Adolescents Aged 4 Months–17 Years — United States, 2016–2018. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2021;70:1315–1321. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7038a1
https://vnahealth.com/how-much-sleep-should-a-baby-get-and-how-it-impacts-their-growth/
Ednick M, Cohen AP, McPhail GL, Beebe D, Simakajornboon N, Amin RS. A review of the effects of sleep during the first year of life on cognitive, psychomotor, and temperament development. Sleep. 2009 Nov;32(11):1449-58. doi: 10.1093/sleep/32.11.1449. PMID: 19928384; PMCID: PMC2768951.
Leistikow, Nicole, and Milena H Smith. “The Role of Sleep Protection in Preventing and Treating Postpartum Depression.” Seminars in Perinatology, vol. 48, no. 6, 1 July 2024, pp. 151947–151947, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.semperi.2024.151947.