A recent study found that more than 90 per cent of parents want to change something about their child’s sleep. Parents are interested in having their child go to bed earlier in the evening, wake less at night or want their baby to nap more during the day.
With so many parents the world over struggling to cope with these issues, the Pediatric Sleep Council (a research team of international experts) launched www.babysleep.com five years ago and observe Baby Sleep Day each year on March 1.
Graham Reid
On Monday, March 1, the experts will be up all day and night – in shifts – to answer families’ questions about their young child’s sleep. The Pediatric Sleep Council expert panel includes Western University clinical psychologist Graham Reid.
The question-and-answer event celebrating Baby Sleep Day will take place on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/pedsleep). Beginning in Australia and Asia, and moving westward in shifts through Europe and North America, experts will answer questions from around the globe, for the entirety of Baby Sleep Day.
“Sleep in babies and young children is linked to many aspects of development, such as memory, physical growth, emotional experience, language development, and health,” said Reid. “Families have so many questions about sleep and that is totally normal.”
Reid is an associate professor at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry in the Departments of Family Medicine and Paediatrics and Western’s Department of Psychology.
“Healthy baby sleep also supports the emotional well-being of caregivers and the family overall. Understanding sleep in babies can be tough. Not only because there are so many changes that happen so quickly in the first year, but also because so many things can affect how well a baby sleeps,” said Reid. “This ranges from schedules to catching a cold to family style and beliefs about sleep. On top of that, all babies are different – so one baby may need more sleep than another or one baby may respond to sleep training completely differently than another.
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
Reid will answer questions via Facebook from 8:30-9:30 a.m. ET on Monday, March 1 and is available for media interviews before and after the one-hour time slot.
Commentary reflects the perspective and scholarly interest of Western faculty members and is not an articulation of official university policy on issues being addressed.
MEDIA CONTACT: Jeff Renaud, Senior Media Relations Officer, 519-520-7281 (mobile), jrenaud9@uwo.ca, @jeffrenaud99
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