Find sleep
What is the subject that parents most often talk to perinatal and early childhood psychoeducator Mélanie Bilodeau? Their little one’s sleep. “Or rather non-sleep,” she specifies in a book devoted to getting children from 18 months to 6 years old to fall asleep, published recently.
Why do so many mothers and fathers experience, at one time or another, a certain dismay when their offspring’s bedtime comes? “I don’t think we’re very well prepared for that. We are not necessarily given the right information related to the child’s sleep, which leads us to have expectations that are often unrealistic,” responds, in a telephone interview, the author ofBeing a reassuring parent – Toddler’s sleep.
PHOTO PASCALE THERIEN, LA LUZ PORTRAITS, PROVIDED BY MÉLANIE BILODEAU
Mélanie Bilodeau, psychoeducator and author
We want our babies and young children to sleep through the night very quickly, sometimes too quickly, without listening to their rhythm.
Mélanie Bilodeau, psychoeducator and author
As in his previous book Be your little one’s expertMélanie Bilodeau invites mothers and fathers to connect with “their parental sensitivity” to better support their child.
We are advised by those around us to let our daughter cry so that she can sleep herself, but we are not comfortable with this idea? We listen to each other. “I don’t know many parents who will tell me: ‘I voluntarily let my baby or my child cry and it didn’t generate any unpleasant emotions for me’”, underlines Mélanie Bilodeau.
Throughout her book, she provides food for thought to help parents find “a sleep accommodation that meets all of the family’s needs.”
“Often we try to meet just the needs of parents or just those of children,” says the woman who has also just released a children’s album, My little bedtime train.
For example, if the whole family likes to co-sleep, that’s perfect. But if parents want to be alone in their room, it is better to review habits, believes Mélanie Bilodeau.
Among the ideas to explore named in the work, the psychoeducator suggests “decompartmentalizing sleep spaces”. Advice that she draws from her own experience as a mother.
“There are moments in a child’s life when he will feel good in his room, then, at other times, he will feel better perhaps in the room of his little brother or his little sister. If everyone is happy there, there is no problem. »
“What we want is for the child to understand that going to sleep is ultimately pleasant,” says Mélanie Bilodeau.
Being a reassuring parent – Toddler’s sleep
Editions Midi Trente
132 pages
Two podcasts for parents
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Valérie Roberts, podcast host Postpartum
Since the start of the year, two new podcasts aimed at parents have caught our attention. In Postpartum, host Valerie Roberts talks about the challenges of the fourth trimester. Loneliness, falling hormones and breastfeeding are among the topics discussed with experts. For his part, in Between mothershost Bianca Gervais offers a space for discussion between mothers where we leave judgments aside and tackle taboo subjects, such as parental competition or the sexuality of single mothers.
Listen to the podcast Postpartum
Listen to the podcast Between mothers
For the “supersensitive”
IMAGE PROVIDED BY THE PUBLISHER
supersensitive Lucien. Text by Marie-Eve Leclerc-Dion, illustrations by Anne-Julie Dudemaine
Lucien is “super-mega-very sensitive”. Not only do his five senses notice “everything, everything, everything”, but also his emotions are very intense. Author Marie-Eve Leclerc-Dion was inspired by her son to create the sympathetic character of Lucien and show young readers the forces hidden behind “supersensitivity”. All with a lot of humor.
supersensitive Lucien. Text by Marie-Eve Leclerc-Dion, illustrations by Anne-Julie Dudemaine. Editions Quebec America. From 3 years old.
A thousand and one families
IMAGE PROVIDED BY THE PUBLISHER
As many families as there are stars in the sky. Text by Émilie Chazerand, illustrations by Clémence Sauvage.
“A family is not always a matter of biology, but it is always a matter of the heart,” writes Émilie Chazerand in As many families as there are stars in the sky. In this lovely children’s album, we celebrate the family in all its forms: a mother, a father and two children, two mothers or two fathers and a baby, a single person, an adoptive family, a community… With its soft and colorful pen , the author recalls that “a family, even when it looks like other families… it is always unique”.
As many families as there are stars in the sky. Text by Émilie Chazerand, illustrations by Clémence Sauvage. Editions The city is burning. From 5 years old.