By:

Angela Campagna

l

Everyone wants there

baby to be happy and

well rested.

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.

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).

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.

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.

How to get baby to sleep? Some studies have observed mothers emotional

availability (EA) at bedtime and how this can affect the child’s sleep (Teti, Kim, Mayer & Countermine, 2010).

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

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.

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).

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.

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