A sleep association refers to any action, object, or environment that a person (typically an infant or young child) associates with falling asleep. These associations can be both positive and negative. Positive sleep associations, such as continuous pink noise or reading before bedtime, can help facilitate falling asleep and staying asleep. Negative sleep associations, such as needing to be nursed or rocked to sleep by a parent, can become problematic if the child becomes reliant on these actions to initiate sleep and cannot fall back asleep without them.
Often, parents and caregivers wish to establish positive sleep associations to promote healthy sleep habits in their children, encouraging independent sleep and eliminating the reliance on caregiver soothing to fall asleep and fall back asleep. I would like to note that if a parent or caregiver is content with their current situation, whether it involves positive or negative sleep associations, there is no need to change anything as long as safe sleep practices are being used.
Sleep associations typically develop during what is often referred to as the "4-month sleep regression." Around 3 to 4 months of age, infants sleep cycles mature to that of an adult and they begin to cycle between lighter and deeper phases of sleep throughout the night. When the infant moves into the lighter phase of sleep (approx. every 45 mins), they struggle to stay asleep without assistance as they have not yet learned how to self-settle. Whatever their caregiver offer as help to fall asleep (feeding, rocking, bed-sharing, etc.), they will expect to have again and again throughout the night when they are struggling to connect those sleep cycles. It is through learning and mastering their independent sleep skills that an infant can move away from that dependency and connect their sleep cycles on their own.
There are some key areas to focus when you are looking to move away from a dependence on negative sleep associations and begin teaching your little one independent sleep skills:
Sleep Environment: setup a perfectly sleep conducive environment to give them the very best conditions for optimal sleep.
Bedtime Routine: create a soothing bedtime routine that is performed consistently before bed to help them create that positive sleep association and to prepare their body for sleep.
Daytime Sleep: follow age-appropriate wake windows through the day to ensure they are not becoming overtired, which can disrupt nighttime sleep and make it hard for them to fall asleep and stay asleep.
Independent Sleep Skills: work on teaching your little one independent sleep skills. There are many gentle and effective methods you can use to help them learn how to fall asleep and back asleep on their own.
Consistency: stay very consistent with all of the above. Whatever routines, wake windows, environments and sleep coaching you decide to implement, stick with it day after day, as consistency is key to successfully helping your little one to fully develop healthy sleep habits.
No matter what type of sleep associations you are facing, it is absolutely possible to change those associations (if that is what you desire to do), and often times, it is closer than you think!
If you have any questions or would like to further discuss your child's sleep associations, feel free to reach out to me directly via email. I am always happy to provide clarity on what you've read or give you a few pointers to get started.
Comments