Dr. Marc Weissbluth
The "Healthy Sleep Habits" author takes on parent misinformation.
by Jeanne Sager
October 2, 2009
Chances are, someone during those early exhausting days of parenthood promised you’d find the path to healthy sleep habits and a happy child thanks to Dr. Marc Weissbluth.
His introduction to the annals of sleep touched on crying it out, no-cry and preventing it all, and more than one million copies have been sold since its first printing in 1999. Now Dr. Weissbluth, founder of the Sleep Disorders Center at Chicago’s Children’s Memorial Hospital and a professor of clinical pediatrics at Northwestern University School of Medicine, is tackling twins in a new version of his old bestseller, Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Twins.
With hundreds of sleep books on the market, the father of four and grandfather of six spoke with Babble about parents’ need to have a greater appreciation for sleep as a health benefit to their kids. He says there is no one-size-fits-all bedtime, naptime or way our kids should sleep, so find out how he says you can expect to find the answer to sleep inside the pages of a book. — Jeanne Sager
There are a lot of sleep books out there on the market; how do you stand out from the crowd?
The book is data based, and you can see from the citations that we have a strong biologic basis for understanding sleep. The material presented is not an opinion, unlike a lot of other books that are just opinion because they have no references, no citations.
"Sleep is a biologic necessity, not a luxury."I read the book several years ago, when my daughter wasn’t sleeping. Could you explain your philosophy for parents who haven’t had a chance to pick it up?
Sleep is a biologic necessity, not a luxury. The book explains how to prevent sleeping problems, how to treat sleeping problems, and why it’s crucial for parents to understand the importance of sleep for the child’s benefit.
Do you think parents have bought too much into trying to find the quick fix into everything?
I know that parents sometimes get paralyzed by the information overload. There are so many books, websites, blogs on every imaginable parenting subject and they’re offering conflicting opinions. I know it’s harder to be a parent today due to this information overload.
One of the biggies I always heard when I was pregnant was "never wake a sleeping baby," which I even read in your first book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Baby. But when I got to the hospital and gave birth, the nurses told me I had to wake my daughter every two to three hours to feed her — even during the night. What gives?
Don’t ever wake a sleeping baby does not apply to twins, because parents of twins initially have to attempt a strict synchronized sleep schedule — it may or may not be successful. But with singletons, you should not wake them for your own social conveniences. You may have to wake them to keep them on a schedule or when there’s been some kind of disruption, three-day weekend, holiday, whatever. For the first day or two in a hospital, the newborn needs to be fed every two to three hours to prevent low blood sugar, but once you get home from the hospital with a full term baby, then there’s no need unless there’s some other medical problem to wake them to feed them.
Mind breaking down some other sleep myths for us? Some folks say you need absolute quiet while the baby sleeps, true or false?
Children do not need absolute quiet when the baby sleeps, but if there is too much street noise — like in a city — there may be interruptions of sleep, especially naps. Then a white noise machine or a humidifier or a fan might help drown out the intensity of intermittent noises.
©2009 Jeanne Sager and Babble Media
About the Author
|
|
Related Articles
|
|
Jeanne Sager is a freelance writer and photographer living in upstate New York with her husband and daughter, Jillian. She maintains a blog of her award-winning columns at jeannesager.blogspot.com. |
|
|
-
by Jennifer V. Hughes
The baby sleep guru defends her technique.
-
by Jennifer V. Hughes
Sleep expert Elizabeth Pantley breaks down her method.
-
by Allison Pennell
Your toolkit for getting your baby - and yourself! - a good night's rest.
|
MORE HOW THEY DO IT IN...
