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Children's sleep is a permanent concern: a child who sleeps badly or for only a little time and who cries during the night not only disturbs your sleep but everyone else's too.
All children have difficulties sleeping at some point. There are different reasons:
- their needs are constantly changing;
- their nervous system is not fully developed;
- their sleeping pattern is different to that of an adult (this is especially true for very young children).
The night is a trying time for babies: it's as if the world is disappearing! "Children haven't yet acquired the self-confidence they need to be left alone," explains psychiatrist Boris Cyrulnik. "Separation at night time is the equivalent of being abandoned."
This is why they need a presence and reassurance to make them feel that their parents (or another person) aren't far away.
Then there's the issue of breastfeeding, which encourages closeness between mother and child, and naturally leads to co-sleeping (sometimes with the cot next to the mother so that you don't need to get up - you just take the baby, position him on your breast and let anyone else get back to sleep!).
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