5 minutes with Dr Kate Johnson of Babysomnia
Oh deary me I am tired at the moment. Our three year old has decided to wake us up at 3am each morning needing cuddles or help finding ‘monkey’. This is new to us, because our eldest has slept through since he was small. Don’t get me wrong, I needed help with his sleep when he was little, and having a midwife come over to guide us was a GAME CHANGER that I will be forever grateful for. So, while we’re kind of shocked by this new twist in our family sleep patterns, I’m doing what I do best – asking an expert for advice!
And have I found an EXPERT! Introducing Dr Kate Johnson.
Have a read of these qualifications would you…
Dr Johnson did her undergraduate Science degree at the University of Melbourne, then completed an Honours year in Psychology and a PhD in Sleep Psychophysiology both through the School of Psychology at the University of Melbourne. After university she spent several years as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford Research Institute in California USA and then a further Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Division of Sleep Medicine at the Harvard Medical School in Boston USA.
RIGHT!
To start, a bit about Dr Johnson!
What do you specialise in?
“I am passionate about helping mums to understand sleep and how it develops – as sleep can be really complicated and often counterintuitive! I specialise in helping with sleep challenges in newborns all the way through to about age 5.”
Business name?
Babysomnia (www.babysomnia.com / @babysomnia)
Where are you based?
Melbourne, Australia
How many children do you have?
“We have 4 kids – our eldest Madeleine is 14, then we have David who is 11, Matthew who is 9 and Nicholas who is 5!”
So, a mum of four with epic qualifications in the science of sleep? Get ready for our questions!
Are there sleep milestones/ages that parents should keep in mind?
“There are definitely some ages that make sleep a little more challenging! The first one is around 4 months and this is due to a change in the way that sleep is being organised. Around 8-9 months babies go through a massive explosion of motor development and do all these new things to try make sleep look boring! 18 months can be a time where some babies have a more acute bout of separation anxiety and this often manifests as needing more physical help to go to sleep. Finally as they get closer to 3 and are starting to look to drop the nap this can be difficult as they are getting used to being awake for the whole day.”
What are the most commonly asked questions you receive?
“The thing I hear most often is from very tired mums who are trying everything to get their baby to sleep but they will only sleep if they are on them or being fed. This is such a hard cycle because the more exhausted you become, the harder it is to see other ways to get your baby to sleep and you start thinking there is something wrong with you as everyone else seems to be able to do it. That can be a really lonely place to be and so I want to assure you that it’s not just you!! The vast majority of parents will experience some sort of issue with sleep at some point so we need to get much better at helping parents understand how sleep works as they are then much more able to help their child sleep better.”
If there was one thing you wanted parents to know about their kids sleep, what would it be?
“That sleep can be complicated and sometimes counterintuitive and so if you are struggling, it’s not that they have somehow failed sleeping! Sleep changes and evolves as your child grows and so having the foundations for healthy sleep can give you extra tools for those times when it feels like the wheels have come off! “
How important is sleep environment? Does temperature, bedding, light make a big difference?
“It’s very important! When your baby is first born they are very adaptable and can sleep pretty much anywhere. As they grow, they become more aware of the environment and in particular the way in which they are falling asleep. As a general rule we all sleep better in cooler conditions but knowing the temperature is also important for making other decisions such as what to dress them in and how many layers of bedding. Light is critically important as it turns on/off the circadian rhythm (which is the part of the brain that is responsible for the regulation of sleep) and it’s only in the dark that our body produces melatonin which is the hormone that makes us sleep.”
Does routine play a massive part in kids sleep?
“Yes routines play a massive part in sleep in 2 ways. First, because children learn through patterns. It’s through seeing or doing something over and over again that you learn how it works or how to do it. So this is why we have a bedtime routine so that your child gets used to the sequence. We do x, then y and then we go to sleep. The other aspect is that our bodies are regulated by an internal clock which naturally makes your child either alert or sleep at different parts of the day. Having regularity in terms of what time you start the day, naps and bedtime will sync their circadian rhythm and helps them to be awake or asleep at the right times.”
What are your thoughts on dummies and white noise? Good, bad, doesn’t matter?
“In terms of dummies, I think there are some babies that just need to suck! So they can be a great way of helping to soothe and to initiate sleep. Where people run into trouble is they do become a sleep association and so as your baby goes to sleep and their muscles relax, it’s normal for the dummy to fall out. When they come into their lighter stages of sleep and they don’t have a dummy in their mouth any more, they will call out so you come back in and replace it. I think we just need to be pragmatic about this and for a period of time while your baby is swaddled, they will need you to help them replace it but when they reach a certain age and they have access to their hands, then we can teach your baby to replace it themselves.”
“I think we have gone a little crazy with white noise!! Of course if you have something that is regularly causing your baby to wake up – so a neighbours dog barking or you live on a really busy street – then white noise can be great as a way of drowning out these external noises but for most babies it’s not the make or break for sleep!”
Is there such a thing as ‘a good sleeper’?
“I have to admit it makes me anxious when people talk about “good sleepers” as it infers that if your baby is struggling with sleep that they are a “bad sleeper” and this is not the case. As with adults – sleep is quite individualised. Some people are what we call morning larks and others are better at night and called evening owls. Some people need more sleep than others and so there is a great deal of individual variability when it comes to sleep. That being said, sleep is a really important time for your child and so far from it being selfish that parents want their child to sleep well – I think teaching and supporting your child to develop sleep skills is absolutely essential so that they can grow and develop! ”
Now, I know you’re probably thinking ‘TELL ME MORE!’ Well, we will! I’ve had a great chat to Kate for the KIDDO CHATS Podcast which will go live in late August, so stay tuned! In the meantime, check out Kate’s website and her online workshop and one-on-one consult options!
