Archive for September, 2010
: Customer Discussions: Should babies sleep “through” the night?
Common sense and studies tell us that babies should wake regularly through the night. They’ve been receiving nutrition 24/7 for 9 months and that doesn’t go away immediately, or even quickly. They naturally sleep lightly so that they do just that – *wake and eat*. Sleeping heavily increases SIDS risk, while the breastfeeding which babies are designed to do through the night dramatically decreases it. Sleeping with mother allows her heartbeat and breathing to regulate babies’ heartbeat and breathing, further reducing SIDS risk. It increases her response to babies’ needs, and my own 3 children have proven to me that this doesn’t cause dependency in later life; it causes a secure (“I know beyond a doubt I’m loved”) independence.
Huge bonus; sleeping and nursing baby through the night extends postpartum infertility. I’ve had 29, 29, and 13-and-counting months of lactational amenorrhea following my births. This is what has spaced babies time immemorial, but it only works best if you nurse through the night, waking only long enough to re-connect baby (if he doesn’t find you by himself!) and drift off again, while he nurses himself to sleep again. I miss NO sleep. If my baby has a cranky night, I know it’s a sign of illness or something else wrong – it’s not supposed to be that way as a norm.
Academic grades
Study links sleep apnea in children and teens to lower academic grades
The average academic grades of children and teens with moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea are worse than the grades of students who have no sleep-disordered breathing, according to a research abstract that will be presented Tuesday, June 8, 2010, in San Antonio, Texas, at SLEEP 2010, the 24th annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies LLC. Results indicate that moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea was linked to both lower academic grades and behavioral concerns expressed by parents and teachers. The results remained significant after adjustment for sex, race, socioeconomic status and sleep duration on school nights. Students with moderate to severe sleep apnea averaged a half-letter grade lower than those without any evidence of sleep-disordered breathing. None of the students with moderate to severe OSA had an “A” average, and 30 percent of them had a “C” average or lower. In contrast, roughly 15 percent of participants without sleep-disordered breathing had an “A” average, and only about 15 percent had a “C” average or lower.
“There was an impressive impact of sleep-disordered breathing on academic grades,” said principal investigator and lead author Dean W. Beebe, PhD, associate professor of pediatrics in the division of behavioral medicine and clinical psychology at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Ohio. “That leaves the subjects with moderate to severe sleep apnea at a serious disadvantage.”
Natural Ways to Fall Asleep and Stay Asleep
Falling asleep is difficult enough for some people, but staying asleep can be even more challenging. After waking up in the middle of the night when everyone else is sleeping, the countdown begins, and trying to sleep becomes a vicious circle. Those who can’t sleep find themselves continually looking at the clock because they know they only have a few more hours to get the sleep they need to feel good the next day, and they end up losing even more sleep worrying about not sleeping.
Consider the following natural ways to fall asleep and stay asleep, and in time your body will become accustomed to the routine. When following a routine of natural ways to fall asleep and stay asleep, eventually you might not even need an alarm clock.
Forget About the Alarm Clock
Helping Babies Sleep and Nap for Long-Term Benefits
“This is the most novel, natural, and easy approach
to helping your infant achieve heathy sleep habits.”
Mairav Cohen-Zion, Ph.D.,
Laboratory for Sleep and Behavioral Neuroscience,
University of California, San Diego
Melatonin As A “Greener” Sleep Aid?
Midweek Mental Greening
Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been trying melatonin as a sleep aid – not every night, mind you, but here and there.
Sleep deprivation tied to weight gain
Sleep deprivation tied to weight gain
NEW YORK | Wed Jun 10, 2009 2:18pm EDT
Cold Relief: 6 Sleep Tips to Help You Breathe Easier
Cold Relief: 6 Sleep Tips to Help You Breathe Easier
Suffering the symptoms of a cold is bad enough by day. At night, it can be worse, when blocked sinuses can make it so hard to breathe that you spend all night in a misery of tossing and turning.
WebMD asked leading cold and sleep experts around the country for advice on how to breathe easier at night while you’re fighting a cold. Their six tips could ease your symptoms and help you sleep. Plus, they just might help you get well a little sooner.
Cosleeping- Toddler and Newborn?
Dear C., unfortunately it is very dangerous to co-sleep for a newborn and a toddler at the same time. Adults to wake up but toddlers don’t and it seems your toddler gets possessive with your breasts. Here are a couple of solution to have the family still together but safe:
get a cosleeper for the newborn and keep your toddler between the two of you. The cosleeper is smaller and outside the bed area and it should be safe. You will need to sit up in bed when you breastfeed so you differentiate your lying down with your toddler and feeding your newborn.
Lack of Sleep Side Effects
“Sherry was a college senior. Being on a full scholarship, Sherry was hard working and often topped her class. Now, that her senior year began, Sherry had a new regular routine, which, basically gave her only 3 hours of sleep everyday. She had classes, rehearsals, practices and studies. By the end of the, day or night (whatever that was) she was tired. Soon, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t cope with the pressures and for the first time in her college life, she failed a class. This caused her much distress and she decided to take corrective action. She contacted the college counselor and after a few sessions, the root cause was found. Sleep deprivation.”
Lack of sleep side effects can often cause people to lose their nights sleep. No, I am not simply playing with words. Keeping the psychological and physiological lack of sleep side effects in mind, distress, is normal. It is also important to find out how much sleep do we need and tricks to fall asleep faster. Let us go deeper into the anti-blissful arena of lack of sleep.
Sleep Apnea: Symptoms, Treatment, Causes, and Cures
Signs and symptoms of sleep apnea Mark’s struggle with Sleep Apnea
Mark’s snoring always disrupted his wife Susan’s sleep, but she became worried when she noticed that he seemed to stop breathing periodically at night, and wake up gasping for breath, only to fall back asleep and start the process again. Mark occasionally remembered waking up during the night, but he did not remember the gaps in breathing. He and Susan did, however, know that they were both exhausted during the day.
Warning signs and symptoms of sleep apnea include:
- Frequent silences during sleep due to breaks in breathing (apnea)
- Choking or gasping during sleep to get air into the lungs
- Loud snoring
- Sudden awakenings to restart breathing or waking up in a sweat
- Daytime sleepiness and feeling unrefreshed by a night’s sleep, including falling asleep at inappropriate times
What happens when you have an episode of sleep apnea?
Read the rest of this entry »