What is it about?
Whilst most babies and children sleep entirely normally, the context of parenting in a modern society with very little support means that many parents find the disruption to their sleep very difficult to cope with. Yet the most prevalent techniques to encourage longer durations of sleep are not necessarily supportive of infant and parental mental health. There is therefore a need for widespread education of healthcare professionals regarding gentle alternatives to support children to optimise their sleep.
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Why is it important?
All UK parents have access to support from their health visitor, and GP. However, there is currently no formal undergraduate training in the area of sleep, and all knowledge is usually acquired either through on the job training or study days after qualification. There is very little current training specifically in gentle sleep methods.
Perspectives
New parents are highly vulnerable and require timely, evidence based and high quality information that is freely accessible. The most logical solution would be for community health professionals to be better informed about gentle sleep, and for a standardised curriculum at undergraduate level to make training more rigorous and consistent for all professionals.
Lyndsey Hookway
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Gently does it: Evidence-based gentle sleep coaching in health visiting, Journal of Health Visiting, June 2017, Mark Allen Group,
DOI: 10.12968/johv.2017.5.6.280.
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