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By Jack Beresford
Senior Reporter
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A mom checking in on her infant daughter via a baby cam has shared footage of the sight that greeted her and the heartwarming story behind it.
Sleep problems are a regular occurrence among young children and something many new parents have to learn to live with. A study that was published in the journal Pediatrics found 21 percent of children who had sleep problems at 6, 12 or 24 months continued to have them at 36 months.
To some parents, the footage that Rachel Smith, from Leyland in Lancashire, U.K., posted to her TikTok @__rachelelizabeths, of her 16-month-old daughter Winter might have been a cause for concern.
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The clip, which comes from a baby-cam video feed, shows Winter sat up in bed in the middle of the night. An infant being awake at this time is something most parents would probably dread seeing. But when Smith sees it, her reaction is different. "It makes me feel proud of how far she has come," Smith told Newsweek.
From the moment Winter was born, Smith has taken a "response approach" to her care.
"It's about responding to her needs as and when they arise," she said. "At bedtime, we always feed to sleep as this is what she wanted and did so throughout the night."
Smith began to encounter problems, however, when Winter started sleeping in her own room. "Her sleep got worse to the point where she'd wake every 30 to 45 minutes throughout the night," she said. "That was a very challenging time for us."
Though it was stressful then, Smith is more philosophical looking back now. "We just hadn't found what worked for us," she said. "Turns out, being responsive to her needs was still exactly what she needed and when we began co-sleeping her sleep improved dramatically," she said. "Now that we have found what works for us when it comes to sleep, she knows that every time she wakes, I'll always be there when she needs me."
Co-sleeping is common among parents. In February, a survey of just over 2,000 parents commissioned by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine revealed 46 percent either sometimes, often or always co-slept with a child under the age of 18. Though the practice is normal, the AASM urged parents of infants to take necessary precautions to ensure their child's safety in the sleep environment.
Winter was around 10 months old when Smith first noticed how she was "just sit and wait for me to come in" when she woke up. " When I decided to record this clip on our baby monitor a few weeks ago, it was spur of the moment to capture a sweet moment in time," she said. "It made me feel happy to know that she felt safe and secure enough, knowing that I would be coming for her."
Winter is now 16 months old and hitting all her milestones and sleeping much better. If Smith has any advice for any parents out there experiencing sleep issues with their child, it is to "try to listen to what your baby is asking you."
"Finding out what it is they want will bring you closer to helping them work through what they're facing," she said. "I know I found this difficult at first, knowing exactly what Winter wanted or needed, but over time, I've come to know exactly what she wants and needs, and you will, too."
Smith said that, for Winter, what was best was that close contact that comes from co-sleeping. "They want to be close to their mother because they're comforted by their mother's smell. It's natural, biological and as simple as that sometimes," she said.
As a mom, Smith didn't come to this conclusion lightly. "I've tried it all," she said. "Stuffing her crib sheet down my top to make it smell like me. Gentle transfers to the crib from my arms, warm bath before bedtime, wind down with bedtime stories, lullabies, white noise—you name it, I've tried it."
If there is one thing each and every parent would benefit from, more than anything in Smith's book, then it is support.
"Having the right support around you can make all the difference when you're struggling with sleep; from your partner to friends and family; support groups like Breastfeeding groups; other mums you meet at sensory class; or even your health visitor," she said.
"But remember that every baby is different, and they're all on their own timeline. Every mom and dad is doing an amazing job!"
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