Why Won't My Child Sleep?! (And What Can I Do?)

Creating a Family: Talk about Adoption & Foster Care

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Do you struggle with getting your child to sleep? Join our conversation with Macall Gordon and Kim West, co-authors of the book, Why Won’t You Sleep?!: A Game-Changing Approach for Exhausted Parents of Nonstop, Super Alert, Big Feeling Kids.

In this episode, we cover:
This is not a newborn sleep training book. This is for those exhausted parents of kids from about age 1-6 who have tried it all and their child still won’t fall asleep easily or put themselves back to sleep when they awake in the night.

• Why are some kids just harder to get to sleep or harder to keep asleep?
• Why is sleep so hard for some kids?
• How does trauma impact a child’s ability to fall and stay asleep?
• What are the biggest sleep issues for these kids and what can we do about them?
  • Overtiredness
  • Problems with the lead-up to lights out (transitions and routine)
  • Parent is a required part of the go-to-sleep and back-to-sleep pattern
  • Past inconsistency (trying a method then stopping too soon or only partly trying)
• Parents worry that if they don’t immediately respond to their child’s cry, they will damage the attachment or that their child will feel unloved.
• Thoughts on co-sleeping or the family bed.
• Thoughts on books on tape or video?
• AD has been with us since she was 1, is now almost 7. She's always required us to be with her to fall asleep, occasionally waking in the night. Now for about 2 months she basically needs my husband or I to sleep in her room. If we aren't there, she wakes multiple times, crying for us.
• She says she's afraid of bad dreams and bad thoughts inside her head, so no lights, monster spray, soothing music, etc. have helped. There is no event we can recall that started this, the only thing that fits time-wise is an age-appropriate storybook we read about adoption, with a happy ending.
• We are happy to give her the connection she needs but we are also tired... Any ideas on how to help?

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