Hurricane Beryl recently tore through Greater Houston, and upon its aftermath I received several inquiries from past clients concerned about their child’s sleep falling off the rails. One mama of a 16-month-old, who previously had a co-sleeping dependency, texted me:
“As you know we just had a hurricane which left us with no power but thankfully we were able to go to my in-laws who had a generator. While we were there baby had to sleep with me, he did great sleeping 11 hours. When we got back home, he woke up at 4am and when I tried to put him back him back in the crib he just kept yelling and screaming so I took him back in bed with me and he slept until 7:30am. I’m afraid I am creating a bad habit . . . what do I do?”
Another past client called concerned because he didn’t have air conditioning, and was trying to find a hotel available, but was even more stressed out about potentially ruining his one-year old’s sleep progress after 13 exhausting months of never sleeping through the night!
Let me just say . . . I totally get it! These parents’ concerns are legitimate. After months, or even years of sleep deprivation, parents who put in the time, effort and consistency to sleep train their child will do whatever it takes to keep a good thing going, and are nervous, rightfully so, that any deviation will result in total sleep upset!
First, my philosophy in times of emergency or crisis is do what it takes to get your child sleep and you sleep! You as the caregiver need to be as well rested as possible to be in the best position to care for your child and handle the surrounding situational chaos. In a time of crisis, simply getting your child sleep in any fashion trumps independent sleep.
The beauty of a sleep trained child is that they can get back on track despite a night or two (or three) of assistance to sleep. Independent sleep is a learned skill that will stick with your child, but you can expect a ramping up period when things are back to normal and independent sleep expectations are reinstituted back at home.
This may look like longer protest upon put down, a night waking or two, or early morning wakings. The best thing you can do, based on the age and temperament of your little one, is to empower them to work through these disruptions independently or with spaced check-ins.
After a few days of getting back to sleep basics and re implementing independent sleep measures, your child should be back on track to peaceful put downs and blissful overnights once again.
In times of crisis, know that the benefit of sleep training is a life-long skill, and a few days adjusting your sleep approach to accommodate the circumstances is totally fine, and your child is perfectly capable of getting right back on track.
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