Thursday, October 19, 2006

BBC NEWS | Health | Sleep loss in child-obesity link

BBC NEWS | Health | Sleep loss in child-obesity link

Last night Oliver woke or stirred and cried on a regular basis. We had to go into him at midnight, 1am, 2am, 4am, 5am and was woken without having to go in a couple of other times between. So lack of sleep is a hot topic in our house.

But now we discover that our efforts to give Oliver a healthy start in life by feeding him the right foods could all be undone if he sleeps badly. And recently his sleep patterns have changed.

His nocturnal stirring has worsened this week. We think we might have identified the cause as an oversized sleeping bag which he gets tangled up in. We'll see if we're right tonight as he's in a better sized bag.

But he has also started to go down to sleep less well. I suspect it's his age. Perhaps he has realised that bedtime need not be a time of our making. So far tiredness has got the better of his protests but it is a worrying reminder of his earlier bedtime woes.

All we can do is continue to give a him a routine, lots of love and cross our fingers. Oh, and keep sugary snacks out of the house!