Dr. Bentley offers essential knowledge about the unique structure of infant and toddler sleep, equipping health professionals to guide parents in terms of what is normative versus what is problematic, when to refer for more specialised assistance, and how to manage their children’s sleep to prevent or mitigate childhood insomnia.
Dr. Bentley provides an overview of how sleep patterns develop, including the development of Circadian rhythms, the homeostatic force, daytime sleeping, naps at different ages and their effects, and the internal structure of sleep & how this differs from adult sleep – e.g. infants having shorter sleep cycles than adults.
Dr. Bentley goes on to discuss the issue of ‘sleeping through the night’, including causes of behavioural sleep problems & how they develop, insomnia in young children and how the typical sleep disorder develops. Dr. Bentley includes Do’s and don’t for parents as well as a method for teaching children to fall asleep after nocturnal wakings.
Dr. Bentley also outlines the scope of insomnia in terms of prevalence for age groups of difficulty settling, early waking or night waking.