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CNN Live Today
Interview with Kim West
Aired December 19, 2002 - 11:33 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: That is a tough sound to hear. Parents know that if their babies sleep through the night, they can too. That's a good incentive. The challenge is getting the baby to do just that.
In the last hour, we told you about ways to help your baby get a good night's sleep, then we are going to continue that discussion this hour in our paging Dr. Gupta segment, and here he is.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: A lot of -- those babies are so cute.
KAGAN: They are until they go (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
GUPTA: Just about as cute when they are crying as they are when they are sleeping, probably. Lots of e-mail questions, lot of interest in this particular topic, and I think we should just jump right to the first e-mail question.
KAGAN: Let's introduce your guest. I kind of skipped that part.
GUPTA: I'm sorry. Kim West, welcome, also known as Sleep Lady. She has her own Web site, Sleeplady.com, and has been -- for years now, I think about 8 years, you told me, Kim, actually helping young babies and their parents, more importantly, maybe, get some sleep.
And we're going to go over some of those strategies, and we got a lot of questions on this OK, Kim?
KIM WEST, CHILD SLEEP COUNSELOR: OK. Great.
GUPTA: Let's go to the first one.
From Christy (ph) in Fairmount, West Virginia, "I am currently 6 months pregnant with my first child. What can I do from the birth of my child," this woman wants a head start, "to promote healthy and regular sleep patterns. Are there any tips for getting my child on a regular sleeping schedule?"
WEST: Yes. I would encourage you to help your baby avoid the overtired, overstimulated state by not letting them stay awake for longer than two hours. Keep nighttime feedings brief and quiet in a dim-lit room. And by about four to six weeks, I'd pick one to two times out of 24 hours where you put your baby down in a drowsy but wakeful state.
KAGAN: Very good. Let's move on to the phones. Lots of people have been calling in as well, Dino (ph) in Colorado -- Dino (ph), are you awake this morning? Were you up late last night?
CALLER: Hello?
KAGAN: Yes, Dino (ph), you're on the air on CNN. What's your question for the Sleep Lady, Kim West?
CALLER: Well, what my question is -- I have a 13-month-old child that -- she'll only go to bed with a bottle at nighttime, and then if the bottle's gone, like, say, 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning, she won't go to bed again until she has another bottle.
It's becoming a big problem. She doesn't use a bottle during the daytime, but only in the evenings, you know. And I'm wondering what I can do about that.
KAGAN: Kim, how can he break that cycle?
WEST: Yes, sure. I would work gradually and start focusing on just bedtime. Where when the baby starts to fall asleep while she's drinking the bottle, that you remove the bottle gently, and place her in the bed, and sit next to her crib and physically and verbally reassure her until she's asleep. And you can try doing that for the other awakenings or you can decide initially to just focus on bedtime.
KAGAN: But in general, what do you think about using a bottle to put the baby to bed?
WEST: I really discourage it. I think that it's a negative sleep association, and you also don't want that milk pooling in their mouth on their teeth too.
GUPTA: Yes, good point. And besides just having sleep problems, there can also be medical problems. This next e-mail actually speaks to that. Let's just go right to it. This comes from Sheila, in Dayton, Ohio.
"I have an eight-week-old infant who averages five to seven hours of sleep in a 24 hour period. She is also being treated for reflux, and those symptoms have gone away. However, she is still not sleeping."
Kim, any ideas for Sheila?
WEST: Yes, absolutely. These reflux babies get a tough start. Obviously, you're following your doctor's recommendation regarding the reflux, and then I would encourage you to start slowly, perhaps first with just the morning nap, where you have a very soothing routine and swaddle and love and soothe them, and put them down in a drowsy state. Again, avoid an overtired state, and not let them stay up for longer than two hours.
KAGAN: And it's back to the phones for us to New Jersey, and Betsy is calling in -- Betsy, go ahead.
CALLER: Yes, hi. My son is 3 years old, and he can go to sleep fine by himself in the evenings. However, he wakes up between 6 and 12 times in the evening, and he can only go back to sleep if one of us goes in there and touches him, or tells him to go back to sleep, but we have to physically be in the room.
WEST: At bedtime also?
CALLER: No, at bedtime he goes to sleep fine. We just say good night and he can put himself to sleep from an awake state. He just wakes up in the evening. He used to sleep with us, but we got him...
WEST: Sure, sure. Well, I would do a couple things. One is, of course, I would make sure you talk to your pediatrician. You've ruled out any underlying medical conditions that could be contributing to his nighttime awakenings. You could also consider a sticker chart for positive reinforcement, where you talk about some sleep rules and manners and you offer a lot of praise for following them.
And, of course, go in and tell a child it is time to go to sleep. You can either decide to stay in the room until they go to sleep or you can leave and return them as many times as you need to until they're asleep. You have to just stay really consistent and patient.
GUPTA: Sticker charts do work. I've actually had some friends who used that, and that appears to work pretty well. Let's go on to another e-mail question, if we can get this one in.
This is about spoiling your kid, these people. Al Wilson from Atlanta here spoiled their 4-year-old child, letting them lie in bed with him until he goes to sleep.
Now he is old enough, 4 years old now, to sleep by himself. How do you make the transition with the least trauma without giving him the impression that he has done something wrong.
They don't want that 4-year-old sleeping with them any more, Kim. What can they do?
WEST: Right. Right. Well, first of all, make sure he's getting enough sleep. Four-year-olds need, on average, 11 and a half hours of sleep at night if they're not taking a nap.
And then I would do a sticker chart again, and I would tell them that you're going to teach them how to help put themselves to sleep, and that you're going to be there for them.
And I would start gradually. I would sit next to the bed instead of lying down with him, and offer physical and verbal reassurance, again, until they are asleep. And then gradually, every three days, begin to move the chair closer to the door until you're in the hallway, and offer tons of praise in the morning.
KAGAN: Great, great tips. Kim, once again, tell us your Web site.
WEST: It's Sleeplady.com.
KAGAN: I bet you are going to get a lot of hits today. Especially thanks for the tip about the sticker chart. I think I'm going to get one for Sanjay and Leon.
GUPTA: We're sleeping just fine.
KAGAN: It is the other behavior we need to work on. But thanks for being with us. I know there are a lot of parents out there who appreciate your tips. And Sanjay, as always, thank you so much.
GUPTA: Great being here.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired December 19, 2002 - 11:33 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: That is a tough sound to hear. Parents know that if their babies sleep through the night, they can too. That's a good incentive. The challenge is getting the baby to do just that.
In the last hour, we told you about ways to help your baby get a good night's sleep, then we are going to continue that discussion this hour in our paging Dr. Gupta segment, and here he is.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: A lot of -- those babies are so cute.
KAGAN: They are until they go (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
GUPTA: Just about as cute when they are crying as they are when they are sleeping, probably. Lots of e-mail questions, lot of interest in this particular topic, and I think we should just jump right to the first e-mail question.
KAGAN: Let's introduce your guest. I kind of skipped that part.
GUPTA: I'm sorry. Kim West, welcome, also known as Sleep Lady. She has her own Web site, Sleeplady.com, and has been -- for years now, I think about 8 years, you told me, Kim, actually helping young babies and their parents, more importantly, maybe, get some sleep.
And we're going to go over some of those strategies, and we got a lot of questions on this OK, Kim?
KIM WEST, CHILD SLEEP COUNSELOR: OK. Great.
GUPTA: Let's go to the first one.
From Christy (ph) in Fairmount, West Virginia, "I am currently 6 months pregnant with my first child. What can I do from the birth of my child," this woman wants a head start, "to promote healthy and regular sleep patterns. Are there any tips for getting my child on a regular sleeping schedule?"
WEST: Yes. I would encourage you to help your baby avoid the overtired, overstimulated state by not letting them stay awake for longer than two hours. Keep nighttime feedings brief and quiet in a dim-lit room. And by about four to six weeks, I'd pick one to two times out of 24 hours where you put your baby down in a drowsy but wakeful state.
KAGAN: Very good. Let's move on to the phones. Lots of people have been calling in as well, Dino (ph) in Colorado -- Dino (ph), are you awake this morning? Were you up late last night?
CALLER: Hello?
KAGAN: Yes, Dino (ph), you're on the air on CNN. What's your question for the Sleep Lady, Kim West?
CALLER: Well, what my question is -- I have a 13-month-old child that -- she'll only go to bed with a bottle at nighttime, and then if the bottle's gone, like, say, 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning, she won't go to bed again until she has another bottle.
It's becoming a big problem. She doesn't use a bottle during the daytime, but only in the evenings, you know. And I'm wondering what I can do about that.
KAGAN: Kim, how can he break that cycle?
WEST: Yes, sure. I would work gradually and start focusing on just bedtime. Where when the baby starts to fall asleep while she's drinking the bottle, that you remove the bottle gently, and place her in the bed, and sit next to her crib and physically and verbally reassure her until she's asleep. And you can try doing that for the other awakenings or you can decide initially to just focus on bedtime.
KAGAN: But in general, what do you think about using a bottle to put the baby to bed?
WEST: I really discourage it. I think that it's a negative sleep association, and you also don't want that milk pooling in their mouth on their teeth too.
GUPTA: Yes, good point. And besides just having sleep problems, there can also be medical problems. This next e-mail actually speaks to that. Let's just go right to it. This comes from Sheila, in Dayton, Ohio.
"I have an eight-week-old infant who averages five to seven hours of sleep in a 24 hour period. She is also being treated for reflux, and those symptoms have gone away. However, she is still not sleeping."
Kim, any ideas for Sheila?
WEST: Yes, absolutely. These reflux babies get a tough start. Obviously, you're following your doctor's recommendation regarding the reflux, and then I would encourage you to start slowly, perhaps first with just the morning nap, where you have a very soothing routine and swaddle and love and soothe them, and put them down in a drowsy state. Again, avoid an overtired state, and not let them stay up for longer than two hours.
KAGAN: And it's back to the phones for us to New Jersey, and Betsy is calling in -- Betsy, go ahead.
CALLER: Yes, hi. My son is 3 years old, and he can go to sleep fine by himself in the evenings. However, he wakes up between 6 and 12 times in the evening, and he can only go back to sleep if one of us goes in there and touches him, or tells him to go back to sleep, but we have to physically be in the room.
WEST: At bedtime also?
CALLER: No, at bedtime he goes to sleep fine. We just say good night and he can put himself to sleep from an awake state. He just wakes up in the evening. He used to sleep with us, but we got him...
WEST: Sure, sure. Well, I would do a couple things. One is, of course, I would make sure you talk to your pediatrician. You've ruled out any underlying medical conditions that could be contributing to his nighttime awakenings. You could also consider a sticker chart for positive reinforcement, where you talk about some sleep rules and manners and you offer a lot of praise for following them.
And, of course, go in and tell a child it is time to go to sleep. You can either decide to stay in the room until they go to sleep or you can leave and return them as many times as you need to until they're asleep. You have to just stay really consistent and patient.
GUPTA: Sticker charts do work. I've actually had some friends who used that, and that appears to work pretty well. Let's go on to another e-mail question, if we can get this one in.
This is about spoiling your kid, these people. Al Wilson from Atlanta here spoiled their 4-year-old child, letting them lie in bed with him until he goes to sleep.
Now he is old enough, 4 years old now, to sleep by himself. How do you make the transition with the least trauma without giving him the impression that he has done something wrong.
They don't want that 4-year-old sleeping with them any more, Kim. What can they do?
WEST: Right. Right. Well, first of all, make sure he's getting enough sleep. Four-year-olds need, on average, 11 and a half hours of sleep at night if they're not taking a nap.
And then I would do a sticker chart again, and I would tell them that you're going to teach them how to help put themselves to sleep, and that you're going to be there for them.
And I would start gradually. I would sit next to the bed instead of lying down with him, and offer physical and verbal reassurance, again, until they are asleep. And then gradually, every three days, begin to move the chair closer to the door until you're in the hallway, and offer tons of praise in the morning.
KAGAN: Great, great tips. Kim, once again, tell us your Web site.
WEST: It's Sleeplady.com.
KAGAN: I bet you are going to get a lot of hits today. Especially thanks for the tip about the sticker chart. I think I'm going to get one for Sanjay and Leon.
GUPTA: We're sleeping just fine.
KAGAN: It is the other behavior we need to work on. But thanks for being with us. I know there are a lot of parents out there who appreciate your tips. And Sanjay, as always, thank you so much.
GUPTA: Great being here.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
