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Continuity Clinic Notebook:

Chapter 1: The Prenatal and Well Child Visit


Chapter 1 Index

A. General Information about the well child examination

B. Nutrition Issues

C. Sleep Issues
--Normal Sleep in Children

--Sleep Disorders: How to Prevent and Treat

 

Sleep: Ferber Program Summary
(From Ferber: Solve Your Child’s Sleep Problems, p. 78)

Number of Minutes for Parents to Wait Before Briefly Going into Child’s Room:
(Not appropriate to use for infants less than six months of age)

    Child Still Crying Child Still Crying Child Still Crying
Day First Wait Second Wait Third Wait Subsequent Waits
1 5 10 15 15
2 10 15 20 20
3 15 20 25 25
4 20 25 30 30
5 25 30 35 35
6 30 35 40 40
7 35 40 45 45

Remember: Key things to emphasize to parents when giving them this sheet:

  1. Always put child down awake!  Do not rock to sleep, give a bottle or pacifier to fall asleep.
  2. Spend only 2-3 minutes in the room with the child/visit.  Reason for going in room is to reassure parents, not to have child fall asleep.
  3. Do not: pick child up, change diapers, rock, feed, and hold.
  4. Goal: have the child learn to fall asleep alone.
  5. If child wakes during the night, parents should begin the waiting schedule at the minimum waiting time for that day and work up to the maximum again.
  6. Parents should use the same routine for naps, but if crying goes on more than an hour, forget the nap.

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Department of Pediatrics  |  Medical College of Georgia
Please email comments, suggestions or questions to:
John T.  Benjamin M.D., 
jbenj@mcg.edu

February 27, 2004