Troubleshooting: how can I help my older toddler sleep? Consistency and predictability are so important! But, there’s no one size fits all fix. Predictability and choice are important to many preschoolers. Putting the bedtime routine on a visual schedule for your child (and you) can help keep [...]
How can we get better sleep when my child has type 1 diabetes (T1D)? Monitoring alarms wake me up all night. Technology can play a central role in diabetes management. For example, insulin pumps, continuous glucose monitors, and mobile phones can all play a role in glucose management. However, [...]
Who should I listen to about my baby’s sleep? It’s so tough to sift through the many opinions and pieces of advice about baby sleep—especially if you add in all the information that parents get through social media, parenting websites, and other online platforms. Many families [...]
My baby was exposed to opioids. How will he sleep? It is very common for newborns with prenatal opioid exposure to have sleep difficulties. A baby with “prenatal opioid exposure” is one who has been exposed to opioids while his biological mother was still pregnant. Sleeping for short amounts of [...]
How can I soothe my extra-fussy baby? Some babies can be extra-fussy, which can make things even more difficult at sleep times. For instance, babies who were exposed to opioids and other substances during pregnancy may be extra fussy. There may be times when your baby is very fussy and you feel [...]
What does “sleep through the night” actually mean? Not surprisingly, this means different things to different people and it strongly depends on the age of the child. Sleeping through the night involves several hours of consolidated sleep. For a 5-year-old this might be 10-12 hours. For a [...]
My oldest child has narcolepsy. Do I need to be worried that my toddler will have it too? First degree relatives of people who have narcolepsy only have a 1-2% risk of developing narcolepsy. A first degree relative is a person’s child, sibling (brother or sister), or parent. In addition, familial [...]
My toddler has epilepsy, what are some things to consider about her sleep? Sleep deprivation can cause an increase in seizures. So, ensuring that your child gets enough sleep (for her age) is vital. Also, many sleep disorders disrupt sleep and can lead to sleep deprivation. Therefore, it is [...]
My child has bad environmental allergies. How can that affect her sleep? Allergies can cause nasal obstruction (blockage) and snoring at night which in turn can disrupt normal sleep. If your child has underlying asthma, symptoms may be worse at night. As part of treatment by your health care [...]
How old do you have to be to get a diagnosis of asthma? How do I know if my toddler has it, and how can that affect his sleep? In young children who cannot perform lung function tests, asthma can be hard to diagnose. Clues might include persistent cough at night, coughing or wheezing with [...]