3. I know what the baby wants, you instead of me. Having a baby with sleep disturbances can cause many problems that can affect the whole family.
4. Who needs sleep? Maternal fatigue and how it impacts the family environment can be pertinent to a happy family. Parenting requires one to be sensitive to the child’s needs and this can be physically and emotional demanding (White, White & Fox, 2009).
5. Can their be long term affects? Sleep behavior can also be linked to cognitive functions (Teti, Kim, Mayer & Countermine, 2010). Factors such as being sleepy during the day are related to cognitive efficiency. Sleep has also been associated to neuronal processing during brain.
6. More affects of lack of sleep. Fatigue is associated with depression and sleep disturbances in postpartum and late pregnancy (Fairbrother, Hutton, Stoll, & Kluka, 2008). High levels of fatigue are reported from mothers through the 4th month postpartum.
7. How to get baby to sleep? Some studies haveobserved mothers emotional availability (EA) at bedtime and how this can affect the child’s sleep (Teti, Kim, Mayer & Countermine, 2010).
8. How to get baby to sleep? Other research explores the idea that lack of sleep for the parent may affect the parental warmth (Dahl & El-Sheikh, 2007). Parental warmth can impact sleep in the children thus affecting development of the children
9. Popular Methods Many parents use methods such as letting their baby cry themselves to sleep. Other methods focus on a routine at bedtime. The book stores are filled with different methods.
10. Who can help? There has been research showing that when the family has adequate health care, social support and an interactive relationship with a pediatrician or nurse they are better able to cope with the crying and sleep disturbances(White, White & Fox, 2009).
11. Conclusion. Sleep patterns and sleep disturbances greatly impact a family. This concept has a ripple effect. The ripple effect is that if the child is not sleeping then the parents are not able to get adequate amount sleep.
12. References: Fairbrother, N. ,Hutton, E., Stoll, K., &Kluka, S. (2008).Psychometric Evaluation of the Multidimensional Assessment of Fatigue Scale for Use Whit Pregnant and Postpartum Women. Psychological Assessment, Vol. 20 No. 2, 150-158 Medina A., Lederhos, C. & Lillis, T. (2009).Sleep Disruption and Decline in Marticla Satisfaction Across the Transition to Parenthood. Families Systems & Health, Vol. 27,No. 2, 153-160 White, C., White, M. & Fox, M., (2009). Maternal Fatigue and Its Relationship to Caregiving Environment, Families Systems & Health, Vol. 27, No. 4, 325-345
Editor's Notes
A new baby joining the family is a great joy to everyone. However, there are many adjustments in the family dynamics as well. A popular topic is that the lack of sleep that parents are encountering during this joyful time can affect them and how to cope with the lack of sleep.
This is whey expect during their time of joy. A well rested baby. This also allows them to be able to sleep themselves.
While there are many positive feeling associated with the birth of a child research tells us that people become less happy with their spouse. Specifically, the lack of sleep intensifies transitional stresses and promotes the decline in marital satisfaction(Medina, Lederhos & Lillis, 2009). In addition, the lack of sleep after there is a new baby in the family can place a short term strain on the family that can have long term affects.
An example of physically demanding may be cleaning up after them, bathing, and feeding them. In addition, it can be emotionally stressful when the child is unhappy or not feeling well. It can be a challenge when the child does not listen or follow rules (White, White & Fox, 2009). When the parents do not have the energy to take care of the child properly they may also suffer from guilt.
In addition, the lack of sleep can affect cognitive impairment in the child and the parent.
The actual labor is very demanding and physically exhausting. The exhaustion can affect the health of the mother and her daily activities that are required while tending to a new born.
This particular study was done by using a scale called an Emotional Availability Scale. The scale measured the mother’s interactions with the child. For example responding to the child warmly and connected would rate the mother EA. This could include caressing the child and stroking the child’s head. The idea is that if the child is feeling safe and secure by the mother, from the EA, then the child will sleep better. They examined families with infants between the ages of 1 and 24 months. In this study there were 45 families and 24 infants who were the participants. The mothers were 91% white, 7% Asian American and 2% African American. The participants in this study were recruited from the local hospital and they ranged from 22 to 42 years of age. Also, there were 2 sets of trained observers who completed blind data coding. They observed the EA and the routine the mothers had with the children at bedtime. However, he parent’s routines were very diverse such as some were breast feeding, co sleeping and crib sleeping. Nevertheless, the researchers did use video to make their observations and this seems to be the most accurate way to obtain the data.
However, which one works? Which one fits which family? How is a parent to know? Also, they may be too tired to try to read a book and follow a method.
While there are many books that address general issues they do not address specific needs of the family and infant. If the family is not coping well then they may have family problems and can even suffer from situations that may affect the baby in the long term. It can even be as desperate as the people that have shaken their babies to death. A large percentage of these parents admitted that it was an attempt to stop the inconsolable crying. Parents may suffer from self-efficacy problems if there is not intervention.
Thus the parents do not have the appropriate amount of energy to take care of the child. This can make the child even more irritable. Often parents are not aware that this can or is taking place and that it often leads to long term affects in the children. It can also lead to depression in the mother and can lead to martial dissatisfaction. There are many symptoms in infants such as anxiety and depression that may affect the child as they become older. The idea is to point out complications as early as possible to better address issues.
