Consultants for children's sleep relatively recentlyappeared on the Russian market of services, so some parents still distrust this specialist, considering the novelty as simply a successful marketing, while others enjoy using their services and can boast of results. Tatyana Butskaya:
As the "Fruit Advocate" and the pediatrician, I am positiveI am referring to the appearance of consultants for a child's sleep, as well as to consultants on breastfeeding. Let's be frank, sleep and breastfeeding are two areas where most mothers have a lot of at least questions, and even problems.
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Why do you need a consultant for a child's sleep, if there is a pediatrician?
Yes, you can contact us with any questions about sleep.doctors: a pediatrician or a pediatric neurologist. But sleep problems are often not medical, but behavioral and psychological in nature. Violation of bedtime rituals, the mother's attempt to follow a daily routine that is not suitable for the child, her emotional state, fatigue, anxiety and ideas about how the baby should sleep - these are just some of the common causes of problems with children's sleep. Sleep consultants often have a psychological education. Therefore, such a specialist can take a comprehensive approach to solving the problem, in some situations switching from the child to the mother. Perhaps, when turning to a sleep consultant, the mother is simply looking for support, wants to make sure that she is doing everything right. Perhaps this is an emotionally burned out mother. And then a sleep consultant is another specialist from whom you can find support and a solution. After all, not everyone turns to psychologists.
Are the sleep consultants doctors?
Such a specialist may have a medicaleducation, or may not have. And this is not so important, because the specialist's tasks do not include treating the child as such. It is important to understand that the focus of the sleep consultant is not the child separately, but the whole family with its habits, rhythm and lifestyle. The problem is considered comprehensively. How can a sleep consultant help if there are well-known and universal recommendations? The fact is that real experts use an exclusively individual approach. They do not give universal recommendations, but consider all the features of a particular family, mother and child. The main task of a sleep consultant is to help improve the child's sleep and lifestyle so that it suits each specific family.
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What will help the expert on sleeping?
- Resolve behavioral sleep disorders;-improve a child's sleep from the moment of birth to school age; - regulate sleep in a family with several children, including the sleep of twins; - establish a daily routine suitable for the child; - resolve the problem of long and painful putting to bed; - move the child to his own bed and switch to separate sleeping; - improve night sleep without frequent waking up; - minimize night feedings; - improve daytime sleep; - teach the child to fall asleep independently.
