Our sleep journey has been years as everyone knows. Apnea has *not* been the driving factor the past two years. Our ENT retired last fall and we were handed to a new ENT whom I really like - plus she pushed up higher up on the Behavioral Sleep Clinic list - !
We had to keep a chart of Hannah’s sleep for two weeks leading into the call:
Thankfully it was a telehealth video - saves us so much time and effort.
They literally asked us questions for 50 minutes - even after a 3-page questionnaire. They convened off camera and came back with their plan. We’ll be trying these strategies gradually:
1. Stop sitting in her room, even for a short time. We currently sit in her room and have cut back - I do better at leaving BEFORE she falls asleep because she needs to fall asleep on her own. As soon as I leave, she comes out 2-3 times, sometimes asks for the bathroom, sometimes asks for Dad.
2. Start utilizing a “Bedtime Pass.” Hannah will start with two passes - she can use two "passes" that Tim and I will acknowledge with emotion. Anything after that, she’s escorted back with a neutral parent (no emotion). **I’m not sure how this will work - we’ve tried incentives and Hannah isn’t driven by incentives - she’s driven by the attention of Mom and Dad. So we’ll see how this goes.
3. Physical Barrier; a decorated gate or ribbon that is a visual cue to stay in your room.
4. Weighted Blanket
5. Sleep Fairy book (a specific book recommended by CCHMC that has helped some)
6. No more in Mom & Dad’s bed in the 4am hour! **I logically knew we’d have to do this. I wanted to hear it from a professional and have to prepare myself to lose an extra hour of sleep for this step. I really hope it does the job because I can’t wake up every morning at 4:30am because my kid won’t go back to her bed.
And for what it’s worth - they acknowledged we’ve done a lot of good thus far to make her sleep independently - we just need to push across the finish line.
Will probably start this weekend - wish us luck!
