孩子累了就會睡覺吧！不是嗎？Babies sleep when they are tired, don’t they?

在孩子出世之前，我一直以為嬰幼兒的睡眠應該是簡單不過，他們累了就會睡覺吧！誰知道，孩子出生以後，我才了解到，原本想孩子有好的睡眠，並沒有想像中容易。作為註冊護士及助產士，我具有照顧初生嬰兒的經驗及知識，可是在我的專業訓練當中，涉獵到訓練嬰幼兒睡眠的範疇可是少之又少。

我和家人在孩子出生的第一年多裡，都得不到優質的睡眠，這令我下定決心去尋找一套有效的方法。了解後，才發現嬰幼兒睡眠背後有着很大的學問。原本，澳紐、歐美國家早在十多年前，已經開始流行着嬰幼兒睡眠顧問(Baby Sleep Consultant)。為了更進一步了解，我報讀了Baby Sleep Consultant 的國際認可嬰幼兒睡眠顧問課程。

在學習過程當中，我明白到幫助嬰幼兒從小建立優質的睡眠，確是甚為重要。嬰幼兒的睡眠習慣是可以被訓練，被建立的。良好的睡眠習慣讓寶寶得到足夠的休息，從而可以在學習表現上更為出色。休息足夠的孩子情緒也會較為穩定。

我深信睡眠是人的基本需要，並不是一樣奢侈之物。孩子需要優質睡眠去鞏固所學習的知識，促進腦部發展及幫助身體成長。家長需要有足夠的睡眠去照顧孩子，應付工作及並且兼顧其他家務。優質的睡眠更可幫助父母有更多的耐性和孩子相處，令家庭關係更加融洽。

Before my child was born, I always thought that the sleep of infants and young children should be simple. If they are tired, they will sleep! Who knows, after my son was born, I realized that it is not what I thought. As a registered nurse and midwife, I have the experience and knowledge on how to take care of newborns. However, in my professional training, there was not much about how to help infants and young children to sleep.

My family and I were not getting much sleep for a WHOLE YEAR since my child’s birth. I was so desperate. Everyone in the family was suffering badly from the lack of sleep. I was determined to find a way out. After a thorough search, I found that there is a lot of wisdom behind infant’s sleep. In fact, countries like Australia, New Zealand, Europe and the United States, the act of helping young babies sleep have started as early as more than a decade ago. To understand more, I have enrolled in Baby Sleep Consultant’s International Certified Sleep Consultant Course.
During the learning process, I realized that it is of utmost importance for infants and young children to build good sleep habit from an early age. Infants’ sleep habits can be trained and established by a range of approaches.

I am convinced that sleep is the basic needs of ALL humans, not a luxury. Children need quality sleep to consolidate what they have learned, to promote brain development and to help the body grow. Parents need to have enough sleep to take good care of their children, cope with work and handle house chores. Quality sleep enable us to be a loving parent, a caring partner and a fully functioning person.