The study, published in Frontiers in Psychology, examined the sleep routines of 337 US preschool children and their families, taking into account socioeconomic characteristics and observing the influence of TV time and meal routines.

Researchers considered four routines protective against childhood obesity including limited TV time, not having a bedroom TV, quality family meal time and adequate sleep.

Yet sleep was the only factor that made a difference in the results.

Children who slept 10 hours per day or more were less likely to suffer obesity than those who did not, regardless of the other protective routines.

Given the importance of sleep, the most likely factor in a child’s risk for obesity was the parental sleep routine.

In a chain reaction, parents who slept inadequately had children who did the same and were therefore more likely to be overweight.

“Parents should make being well rested a family value and a priority,” said Barbara H. Fiese, director of the U of I’s Family Resiliency Center and Pampered Chef Endowed Chair. “We viewed how long parents slept and how long children slept as part of a household routine and found that they really did go together.”

Sufficient sleep has long been linked to healthy weight management and children are hardly new study subjects.

A recent study by the University College London found that 16-month-old toddlers who slept less than 10 hours per day increased their calorie consumption by 10 percent over those who slept 13 hours per day.

A 2009 study by the European Centre of Taste Science in Dijon in central France found participants were likely to consume up to 22 percent more calories than normal after a bad night’s sleep.

(AFP Relaxnews)

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Between 5am and 7am is a tricky time for babies as they are in the lightest stage of their sleep and most likely already have 10 hours under their belt, so if they are woken, it is very tough to get them to go back to sleep.

The reality is, early mornings are probably going to be a part of your life for a while (a side effect of being a parent unfortunately), but here are a few suggestions that I recommend you try to see if you can make that early morning not quite so early.

A dark room

Is your baby’s room as dark as possible? Even the slightest bit of light can encourage your baby to wake before an appropriate time, especially during the summer months. We sleep best in complete darkness so investing in good blackout blinds for you and your family will help encourage restful sleep.

Eliminate environmental noise

Is there any environmental noise happening? Somebody getting up for work, building noise, a garbage truck rolling by?

Using a sound machine set to white noise can help eliminate the chance that an outside noise wakes your baby up. Make sure if introducing white noise that it is on when baby goes to bed and stays on all night long so their sleep environment is consistent.

Stick to wake-up time

Stick to your guns when it comes to wake-up time. I never suggest getting your baby out of bed prior to 6 a.m. If you start bringing them out earlier than this it will only persuade them to call for you at this time.

Decide on a minimum wake-up time (within reason) for your family and make it a rule. If you have a toddler who is in a bed, introducing a night light that changes colour when it is morning can be very useful.

Extend the first nap

What time is your baby’s first nap? If you’re putting your little one down too early after rising then they will start to use this as an extension of their night time sleep.

Delay the first feed

What is happening when your baby is waking early? Could they be waking up early looking for something?

Make sure to delay your baby’s first feed by about 10 minutes. If you rush to them and feed them right away when they wake at this time, you’re only supporting their decision that it’s time to get up.

An overtired baby wakes up early

What time is baby’s bedtime? It could be that your baby is overtired, which can lead to early wake ups.

Ensuring that your child gets to bed somewhere between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. is ideal, depending on when their last nap ended.

Keep in mind that when changing bedtime you often need to stick to the new time for a week or two to see any results, so be patient.

If that doesn’t work, try a later bedtime

If after trying an earlier bedtime for a week or two with no change in wake-up time, it may be time to look at slowly moving bedtime later by 10 minutes every three days until it is 30 minutes later than normal.

Again, you cannot expect to see results for at least a week, if not two; just be consistent and patient.

“Wake to Sleep”

This is usually the last thing that I suggest to parents when nothing else has worked and you have looked at all other possible causes for the early rising. This can only be done if the wake-up time is fairly consistent;

• Set your alarm to go off 10 minutes before the time your baby wakes up
• Go into the room and lightly rouse baby, but not fully awake (this is the tricky part), then quietly leave the room.
• If your baby still wakes at the same time then leave them until your decided minimum wake-up time. I suggest 6 a.m. at the earliest.
• If your baby manages to sleep longer but still not until your minimum wake-up time, still leave them until that time.
• This will have to be done for a full seven days until you will start to see any success, so be patient.

About the Author: Good Night is a child and baby sleep consultancy that specialises in helping parents with children who struggle to sleep soundly. For more information, visit: www.goodnightbaby.co.za

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