Nyxeos Consulting

Why should you care that March is Sleep Awareness Month? Sleep is not an option or a luxury, but is essential for health, daytime functioning, and well-being! To celebrate, here are some fun facts about the history of this month. *In 1998 National Sleep Awareness Week was created by the National Sleep Foundation. It is either the week before or after the start of daylight saving time to raise awareness about the importance of sleep during the week when most people in the U.S. get an hour less of sleep. Since 1991 the NSF has also conducted an annual Sleep in America Poll that is typically released during NSAW. In the picture you can see two of my favorite themes from NSAW (had that bumper sticker on my car and on my office door, and gave out hundreds of those pins!) *In 2008 the World Sleep Society created World Sleep Day, which occurs on the Friday before the spring equinox in the northern hemisphere to celebrate sleep, as well as to provide a call to action on important issues, including sleep medicine, education, social advocacy, and drowsy driving. *In 2012 the Narcolepsy Network created Suddenly Sleepy Saturday as a way to raise awareness for narcolepsy. Each year proclamations are requested from cities or states to recognize the Saturday before the start of daylight saving time as a day for narcolepsy awareness. *In 2016 Baby Sleep Day was created by the Pediatric Sleep Council, an international group of pediatric sleep experts, including physicians, psychologists, nurses, and researchers. Although it is the “baby” of this group, Baby Sleep Day ushers in the celebratory month on March 1st. This year the theme was doing one good deed (and I’d go a step further and say do a random act of kindness for a parent of a baby). Daylight saving time starts in the U.S. on Sunday March 9th. If you want to learn more about the history and why we need permanent standard time, check out this blog https://lnkd.in/dipYqBQt, this article https://lnkd.in/gKP_-VTG, or follow Save Standard Time. Happy Sleeping! ?? ??

March 1st is Baby Sleep Day! Since I’m still on my kindness kick, please consider celebrating by supporting a colleague or friend who has a baby and is somewhat sleep deprived. Here are some suggestions: *Ask the parent what would help support them *Watch the baby for a few hours so the parent can take a nap *Do a couple loads of laundry for the parent *Send a couple of meal options that you’d be happy to bring (or food delivery gift cards so they can choose) *Randomly drop off bagels and coffee one morning *Hold the baby for a few hours so the parent can do whatever they want *Take older children on an outing (or watch the baby so the parent can take older children on an outing) ***Encourage all parents/caregivers of young children to visit www.babysleep.com to learn more about sleep in children 0-3 years. Created by the Pediatric Sleep Council, a group of international pediatric sleep experts (psychologists, physicians, nurses, researchers) this site has TONS of information and is translated into 16 languages!*** Please add other suggestions for random acts of kindness to the comments. Wishing all parents and caregivers a peaceful night of sleep ??

???? Does teething really disrupt infant sleep? Despite the widespread belief, our new study in The Journal of Pediatrics found no evidence that teething impacts sleep. Using auto-videosomnography, we objectively assessed sleep in 849 infants over 4 weeks and found no differences in sleep duration, night wakings, or parental visits between teething and non-teething nights. Sometimes even the oldest parenting myths need fresh examination. These findings highlight the need for evidence-based conversations with parents and pediatric healthcare professionals about infant sleep disruptions. Misattributing sleep issues to teething might lead to unnecessary or potentially harmful management strategies, such as overuse of medications, while delaying effective solutions for sleep problems. Grateful to my amazing co-authors Dr. Maristella Lucchini Lucchini, Emily Oster, Shambhavi T., Mali Waugh, and Natalie Barnett, PhD for this collaboration. ?? Read the full open-access paper: https://lnkd.in/dNDm3tys #MythBusting #InfantSleep #PediatricsResearch #ParentingScience #Teething #SleepResearch

What a honor to present at the Start School Later, Inc. Conference with the leading women in sleep science and healthy school start times advocacy: Drs. Mary Carskadon (Sleep Hero!), Kyla Wahlstrom, and Amy Wolfson. Big thanks to all of the conference organizers, in particular Terra Ziporyn, Phyllis Payne, Maribel Cabrera Ibrahim, Lisa VanBuskirk, and Elinore Boeke as well as the conference sponsors Abell Foundation Inc, Prismatic Services, CESO Communications, NESDEC, Zonar Systems, and Loyola University Maryland.

If you have a child read this! World Mental Health Day is Oct. 10 and I want to share a new study showing that sleep disturbances in school-aged children (9-10 yrs) increased suicide risk in preadolescence (11-12 yrs). What Did This Study Do? *Used data from a really big study in the United States (almost 12,000 youth!) that is following children starting at age 9/10 years through adolescence (Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study) *Asked about sleep disturbances when the youth were ages 9/10 years, and then asked about suicidal thoughts and behaviors 2 years later, when the youth were ages 11/12 years What Did This Study Find? *Youth with severe sleep disturbances at age 9/10 years had an increased risk of suicidal ideation and attempts at age 11/12 years *The risk was still there after considering whether the child had depression, anxiety, a family history of depression, family conflict, and parental monitoring *The most notable sleep disturbances associated with suicidal thoughts and behaviors were severe daily nightmares and significant daytime sleepiness Why Is This Important? *We already knew sleep disturbances and suicide were associated in adolescents and adults, but this is the first study to consider sleep disturbances and suicide risk in late childhood *As children get older, parents become less involved in sleep routines, including bedtimes, and may not be as aware of sleep disturbances compared to when children are younger *Previous research has shown the importance of earlier, parent-set bedtimes in reducing suicide risk among adolescents What Can You Do? *Make sleep a priority for the entire family. Model healthy sleep behaviors for your child(ren)! *Set a consistent bedtime and wake time for your child, and try not to let sleep times shift by more than an hour on weekends *Every now and then check in on your child’s sleep. Ask them how they slept, but also are they having any troubles falling asleep or staying asleep *If you are concerned about your child’s sleep, mental health, or suicide risk, talk with your primary care provider Study: https://lnkd.in/g9e-biX3 Congrats to the study team, including Joshua Gowin, Joel Stoddard, Ted Doykos, and Mary Dupuis Sammel at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and Rebecca A. Bernert from Stanford University School of Medicine

Parents and pediatric clinicians - time to approach screens and sleep in youth from a harm reduction approach (vs. abstention). A new study challenges conventional recommendations of screen use before bedtime. ?? The study used a high quality research design including: *youth wearing body cameras to capture screen use time before bed *bedside infrared cameras to capture screen use once youth got into bed *actigraphy to capture sleep-wake patterns The bottom line from study results: *screen use in the 2 hours prior to getting into bed did not impact sleep health outcomes, whether the screen use was 30, 60 or 120 minutes before bedtime *once in bed, however, interactive screen use (gaming, multitasking) was associated with clinically-significant shorter sleep duration This study follows the recent publication from the great Dr. Michael Gradisar and colleagues showing the bidirectional relationship between sleep and technology use. In addition, they highlight the limited empirical support for blue light from handheld devices negatively impacting sleep. So - parents and pediatric clinicians - healthy sleep habits (for all family members) should include a regular bedtime routine, a consistent bedtime and wake time, exposure to bright light in the morning and early afternoon, and limiting caffeine intake after lunch. For technology, consider "tucking technology in" to a central charging station (preferably not in the bedroom) prior to getting into bed. (again - this is for adults as well as youth!) Finally, and this is very important, check in with youth about how they are doing, as evidence is growing about the increased use of bedtime technology to provide distraction, reduce anxiety, and/or bedtime procrastination due to over-programming or too much homework during the day. Study link in the comments. Congrats to Brad Brosnan, Jillian Haszard, kim meredith-jones, Shay-Ruby Wickham, Barbara Galland, and Rachel W. Taylor from the University of Otago!

Our latest NESTED paper findings “do not support earlier school start times, but rather the benefits of in-person instruction coupled with healthy sleep and age-appropriate start times.” Thanks to Jared Saletin, PhD and the rest of the NESTED team (Amy Wolfson, Kyla Wahlstrom, Sarah Honaker, Judy Owens, Dr. Azizi Seixas, Patricia Wong, PhD, and Mary Carskadon) for their teamwork and dedication to ensuring healthy school start times and well-being for all students! This paper: https://lnkd.in/gxc9VYQx Other NESTED papers: https://lnkd.in/gBv3Z5va