There are so many things that can cause your child to wake up during the night. As a first step, choosing natural, comfortable sleepwear will help you create a nurturing, safe and supportive sleeping environment for your child
If you are feeling worried about your child’s disrupted sleep, we have asked child sleep expert Karen Faulkner* to help answer some questions for us.
As a sleep consultant, I come across a lot of situations where children are not dressed warm enough at night. Babies and young children have difficulty regulating their own body temperature. They can lose body heat up to 3 times as fast as an adult. This leaves them vulnerable to even the slightest change in temperature.
The most common wake up time in young children is between 3-4am when the air temperature dips triggering a dip in their body temperature. This can be enough to wake a peacefully sleeping child and cause unnecessary broken sleep pattern.
What is the impact of this on my child?
The problem of child broken sleep is huge and can create developmental, emotional and attention issues in your child. For you, the broken sleep can leave you feeling exhausted instead being an attentive and present parent that you can be.
Why won’t my child keep the blanket on?
Once asleep, a child does not instinctively know to pull up a blanket that has fallen away from their body. They are unable to problem solve in this way to independently keep themselves warm.
Can I keep my child warm with a heater?
In my experience, I see a lot of parents cranking up the heating in an effort to keep their child warm. This doesn’t help. Heaters dry up the air in the room making the child snuffy. It dries up nasal secretions and their noses get blocked. The key is to use layers of warm natural fibre sleepwear.
What is wrong with dressing my child in synthetic fibres?
Synthetic fibres such as polyester and acrylic are not breathable. They trap hot air in and put your child at risk of overheating. Wearing synthetic fibres can leave your child feeling sweaty and clammy which is not a conducive environment for good sleep.
What is the best way to keep my child warm and comfortable?
It is essential to keep their core warm, in particular their chest and arms using layers of good quality bedclothes made of natural fibres such as Merino wool.
Merino wool has great breathability and will help with temperature regulation. It will absorb and release moisture so your child stays comfortable throughout the night.
What do you recommend?
I highly recommend investing in Hello Night Merino sleepwear as a solution to cold nighttime wake ups. The beautiful Merino wool will allow your child’s body to breathe and maintain a constant temperature that is conducive to sleep.
As a loving parent this will help you create a warm, safe and comfortable sleeping environment for your child to sleep through the night.
* Karen Faulkner is the founder of Nurture Parenting and has over 28 years experience working as a professional in children’s health and well being.