Every working mom knows the absolute struggle of having to make sure her child sleeps through the night. Owning a small business is tough enough, but adding one or more kids on top is just asking for trouble! That’s why we sat down with Courtney Zentz and picked her brain.
Join us on a journey, and let’s learn how to improve our sleeping habits and get better sleep!
Courtney’s Biggest Tips
We asked Courtney upfront, “What does it take to make sure our kids fall asleep at night?”
And she had some amazing answers, so let’s stop beating around the bush and jump right in!
Age Makes a Difference
As a pediatric consultant, Courtney’s biggest tip to parents is to know what’s normal for their kids. Every age group has a certain schedule, which means that you’ll need to adjust to fit that need.
One of the biggest problems is that parents feel as if they need to sleep train newborns. That’s a BAD IDEA, and Courtney says it’s a recipe for undue stress for every working mom. Infants sleep in short bursts of about 45 minutes, after which they’ll wake up. This is how they naturally are, and forcing them to conform to something different is a great way to cause a lot of problems. Instead, try to fit their schedule around yours.
As children grow, you can begin to properly sleep train them. The older a child gets, the more time they can soundly sleep without needing to wake up. Courtney says that the golden window of opportunity opens up once they’re around six months old.
Learn to Balance Your Routine
In addition to making sure your timing is perfect, you’ll also want to figure out the logistics. Do you want to cosleep? Will the baby be in a different room? These choices are yours to make, but the most important thing to remember is that you need to create a consistent schedule.
As business owners, every professional mom needs quality sleep. When young children are having trouble sleeping, however, our maternal instinct is to let them come to us. We will sacrifice our time and well-being for theirs, and that’s not always a good idea. Instead, we need to learn to balance our feelings and our logic. While it’s okay to offer them comfort, we shouldn’t always allow them to cozy up into the bed, even if we want to!
Make Sure They’re Eating Right
It’s not enough to get kids to sleep, you also need to watch out for how they act when they’re awake. Every day, Courtney recommends that you ask yourself these questions:
- Has my child had enough to eat?
- Were their meals filling and nutritious?
- Did my child get enough mental stimulation today?
- Has my child had ample playtime?
If the answer to any of these questions is “no”, then you have a problem! All of these factors are important to determine whether or not your kids will sleep through the night or if they prevent you from getting your sleep.
If you want to sleep at night, make sure your young children are ready to sleep!
Stop Forcing Kids to Nap!
While older kids should take naps, Courtney told us that forcing infants and very young children to take naps is a bad idea. In the first year of life, children do not have the same sleep cycle as we do. They only have deep and light sleep, which means that naps are not productive for them.
Instead of forcing your child to take naps, you want to keep in mind that everyone sleeps in cycles. As we’ve said before, newborns tend to have 45-minute cycles. This really kicks up once they hit 6 months, which is when you need to really get in there with sleep training. Self-soothing, the ability to go back to sleep after waking up, is one of the most important skills to teach in this period. Once your baby has mastered this technique, they’ll be able to soundly sleep through the night, which is a much better solution than forcing kids to nap halfway through the day.
Learn to Be the Best!
If you’re still looking for help, then we’re always here! As Rainmakers, we’re committed to giving every working mom and small business owner the tools they need to succeed.
Are you ready to take a leap into your future of generational wealth? Join us! Take the Rainmaker Family Challenge and dive into your new reality of success!
