Sleep Associations

A sleep association is something that your little one relies on to go to sleep, some sleep associations can be really helpful to introduce and others you may decide need to be reconsidered. You would have heard the terms positive and negative being thrown around but basically, it’s trying to explain the difference between these associations. A "Positive" association is something that doesn't need replicating in the middle of a nap or overnight, they remain the same throughout the duration of sleep. I like to explain these as being Independent associations.

These include

- Swaddle or sleeping bag
- White noise
- Comforter (for older babies who are unswaddled and in a cot)
- Darkness
- Pre-nap/bedtime ritual

Some sleep associations may need to be reconsidered, these are also referred to as being "negative". They are labelled negative because your baby is often unable to replicate these associations on their own and therefore it becomes something the parents will often have to repeat after each sleep cycle. There is nothing inherently wrong with these sleep associations unless they are causing short naps or frequent night waking. If this is the case or if any of these things are no longer working for your family then I recommend looking to changing these associations. I consider these associations to be dependent.

These include

-       Feeding to sleep
-       Rocking to sleep
-       Bouncing to sleep
-       Pushing the stroller to sleep
-       Driving to sleep
-       Replacing a pacifier/dummy

For example, if your baby is waking multiple times in the night and only resettling back to sleep once rocked, your baby is reliant on you to aid them in getting back to sleep. We can look to replace the rocking with some white noise and a lovey, so we give your baby a new set of associations that do not need to be replicated throughout the night, and work on helping your baby learn to fall asleep without being rocked.