Shannon Glenn is the owner and founder of Sleep Well Children Consulting and a Certified Pediatric Sleep Specialist. She is dedicated to helping parents assist their children and babies in developing healthy sleep habits. With a B.A. in Psychology, Shannon has worked extensively with children and their families for over 15 years in a variety of settings. She has been offering sleep solutions for over six years.
Are you addicted to your monitor?
Today I want to ask you a very important question. Are you addicted to your monitor?
It might sound silly, but this is really an area of concern for me.
I think what happens for a lot of us is we get dependent upon this monitor. You’ve got it right beside your ear. I’ve had clients who even sleep with it in their hand through the night so that they can hear their babies.
Monitors have a time and a place, absolutely. If you’re out gardening and your child is taking a nap, then a monitor can be an absolute wonderful tool to know when you baby’s nap is over or know when you need to go back into the house. If your bedroom is on a different floor from your child’s bedroom, it’s a good thing to have. But what I worry about for some people is that if you’re so tuned into your monitor, it’s disrupting your sleep.
You don’t need to hear every little squeak and squawk that your baby makes through the night. Some babies are very, very noisy sleepers. Every time they squeak and squawk, you’re going to wake up because you’re so in tune to your monitor that you can see how that’s going to wreak havoc on your sleep.
If you’ve got a baby who is now successfully sleeping well through the night, I would encourage you to turn it down or even turn it off if your bedroom is close by, and start getting the good quality sleep that you deserve as well. It tends to be more of a problem for moms. I’m not going to put it all on moms, but a lot of dads will go, “Oh, thank you” when I say, “Maybe we can turn that down or off now.”
Just think about it, that’s all I’m asking you to do. Is it really necessary? Does it need to be as loud as it is? Does it need to be right by your ear all through the night? Just have a good look at that. Obviously, if you’ve got a newborn in the house, most people are very concerned about SIDS and having one of those monitors that have the pad underneath the sensor to monitor breathing is acceptable.
Video monitors have become more popular in the last few years. A lot of people are super attached to their video monitor. That can be a really useful tool, especially if you’re teaching your child to sleep well. You can keep an eye on, “Is he all right? Has his arm stuck in the bar? Is there any need for me to intervene or be concerned?” Then absolutely, that is a fabulous tool.
However, I had someone confess to me the other night that she sits awake through the night watching the monitor because she’s really anxious about his night sleep. That’s worth having a look at. How is that affecting your sleep?
If your child is sleeping well, let’s trust that everything is fine, and let’s get you into bed, and let’s get you back to getting the quality sleep that you need as well. As a well rested person you will be a better parent to your children.
Why didn’t we try this sooner?! As we speak he is sound asleep in his crib – and has been since 7:15 pm.
Karianne Wanggaard
Sleep Well Sleep Specialists
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Working with Shannon, I went from 2-3 wake ups every night to 1 or 0. She aligned the plan with my preferred sleep cycle. She was always coaching, never judging. Shannon was great, I have referred MANY people to her! That's the best testament to her work that I can give.
Laura