My chosen
topic for the simulation is parenting and infant sleep. The idea for this came
to me from a conversation I had with the parents of a baby I care for. The
parents were fairly content with putting their daughter in the crib after she
fell asleep, but the father was not quite as sure as the mom. Around that time
I was also reading a book by Magda Gerber. Gerber felt that it was “important
for a child to fall asleep alone in her crib.” That same week I had also talked
to a director of a day care about their infant curriculum. The curriculum was
RIE, a curriculum based on Magda Gerber’s beliefs. This is one reason I was
reading Gerber’s book. I liked many of Gerber’s ideas, but I had never had my
own children fall asleep in a crib, and I had never had problems with my
children going to sleep when they were older. This all made me curious.
This week
for the simulation we are researching three articles. I am curious what a
minimum amount of articles would be for a full literature review. When I looked
at my articles, I realized that the studies I looked at were measuring how parenting
behaviors surrounding infant sleep affected the infants sleep when the infant
was 12 to 18 months old. I am much more interested in how these behaviors
affect a child of six or older. I am much more interested in long range
success. I decided that my research simulation would involve questioning
parents again when their child was six years old.
In
beginning my research chart and from reading the text, I have gathered the idea
that there are many types of research and many views of the process and purpose
of research. This is because there are many different types of people with many
different ideas. I have also been glad to learn that past research can be a
resource for my present simulation.
I would be glad to discuss any
concerns that any of my colleagues has with their simulation, and I would love
some feedback related to my research ideas!
The Magda Gerber book is Your Self Confident Baby, How to Encourage
yourChild’s Natural Abilities—from the very Start
Sleep is a big part of being able to function normally. This sounds like a great topic to learn more about. In my classroom because part of our philosophy is independence we do start putting our older infants down for nap while they are still awake. I have a 10 month old who is putting herself to sleep at nap time now. I have also in the past started putting my infant foster children down at bed time while they are still awake. I believe that is helps them learn how to put themselves to back to sleep if they wake up in the middle of the night.
ReplyDeletemjpace,
ReplyDeleteCould you please tell me exactly what happens when you put the infant in the crib to sleep before the infant actually learns to put herself to sleep quickly? For example, how long does it take for the infant to fall asleep at first? Does the infant cry and for how long? This infant bedtime routine of putting the infants in the crib while they are awake is very foreign to me. I would like to have a better picture of what it looks like.
Thanks, it is good to hear about something new to me!
Liz Thomas
Hi Elizabeth,
ReplyDeleteI think your topic is very interesting. It was also very difficult for my child to fall asleep in her crib. That was a nightly battle for my husband and I. I am truly interested in following you on this research.
Thanks Roberts!
ReplyDeletePart of the reason this subject is interesting to me is that sleeping was what we did with our children when they were young. I think it affects the kids when parents are not happy with the sleeping arrangement.
Sorry jroberts,
ReplyDeleteI tried that on Kindle, and it didn't work out. What I meant to say was we planned to cosleep from the beginning, so we never had a battle. I am wondering how much a parent's expectation of being involved with the infant at night affects the outcome when the infant is an older infant or child. The other question is "what came first the involved-at-night parent or the child who wakes up a lot at night.
I never knew that this could affect a child and their sleep habits. I have known children to sleep with their parents as infants, especially my nieces and nephews and I would tell my sisters they were start bad sleep habits. I am looking forward to reading and learning more on this topic because I plan to one day have children and although I don't plan on them sleeping with me, you never know. I want to know the effects of it...just in case.
ReplyDeleteGreat topic Elizabeth!! I am also interested in hearing about your findings. Could you share the title of Magda Garber's book and explain a little about the RIE curriculum? Sounds all very interesting!
ReplyDeleteEmily*
Hi Emily,
ReplyDeleteHere is a link:
http://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video;_ylt=A0oG7nrkXdxSNCgAv3xXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTB0cHQyNnVtBHNlYwNzYwRjb2xvA2FjMgR2dGlkA1ZJUDI1NV8x?p=Magda+Gerber+RIE+youtube+film
Here is the book: The Magda Gerber book is Your Self Confident Baby, How to Encourage yourChild’s Natural Abilities—from the very Start