"Childrens Bedtimes Can Affect Brain Power"

Routine, routine, routine.  I once committed the cardinal sin of mentioning the name "Gina Ford" during an NCT (National Childbirth Trust) antenatal class.  These two words could be punishable by death if uttered in the presence of some anti-Gina's.  Gina Ford is, according to one tag line, "the best-selling author of childcare books in the UK and a former maternity nurse who has cared for over 300 babies during her career".  Basically, she is all about routine and many frown upon her rigid techniques; but I'm not here to discuss Gina or her work, in fact, as always, I am interested in exploring the psychology behind bedtime routine.

My wife and I thought we had bedtime routine waxed; and I guess, in reality, we do...to a degree of course.  However, our daughter often has other ideas when it comes to bedtime.  Her latest is an inability to tuck herself in (once we have already done so), extra kisses, extra hugs, being thirsty, wanting Vaseline rubbed on here nose (?!?!), the list goes on... I guess we persist with running a routine so that she establishes boundaries and has some form of consistency at the end of each and every day.

You can imagine my delight when I came across an article entitled "children's bedtimes can affect brain power" published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.  (Epide-what!?!  Don't worry, I had to look it up too - the study of patterns, causes and effects of health and disease conditions in varying populations).  The article based its findings on research which involved more than 10 000 young people, revealing that their cognitive development (based on tasks which tested reading and mathematical ability, as well as spacial awareness) was affected by inconsistent bedtimes.  The study found that three-year-olds (my daughters age) who went to bed at irregular times tended to perform worse on the tasks compared to those who were in bed at the same time every night of the week.  These findings were also reported to be true for girls aged seven (not boys however), however, had inconclusive findings for both boys and girls at age five. 

Inconsistencies when it comes to bedtime may act on, and affect, cognitive development in one of two ways:  Firstly, by disrupting circadian rhythms (such as the daily 24 hour sleep/wake cycle - **what a cool name for a band don't you think?**), or through sleep deprivation and the effects it might have on the brain's neuroplasticity (the ability to form new neural pathways).

So I guess what the article and I are saying is that sleep patterns are learnt behaviours and not innate.  Like most of you, I guess I will continue to plug away at it in the hope that one day bedtime will be a little less onerous (to be fair, we have it pretty easy and are very grateful for this).  In ten years time I suppose I'll be looking at the complexities of a teenager who sleeps too much!  What a wonderful roller-coaster ride all this parenting is turning out to be...only this is one roller-coaster ride that I hope will never end.

Where technology fails, chocolate conquers.

I have never supported my daughter's quest to get her hands on a chocolate bar as much as I have in the past two weeks.  Despite buying her the fancy-schmancy  day/night clock (which I discussed in the blog "Sunrise with a touch of [Jo "Supernanny"] Frost"), the waking up at 05:45 (although it is an improvement from 05:36) continues and it is really taking its toll.  This morning I woke up to the call “Daddy, I'm waiting for the sun [on her clock] to come up” from down the passage.  Brilliant.  The whole point is not to disturb parent number 1 and parent number 2 who feel like they have been on an all-night bender, before six o'clock.  I just love the way she calls out to inform me that she will be waiting until 06:00 before she comes through to our room to wake us.  05:45 is the new 06:00 in our household.  You won't believe the difference those extra fifteen minutes can make!

The "stay in bed" chart

So the fancy clock serves its purpose to a degree, but where technology fails, chocolate conquers.  Whether it’s a glass-and-a-half of Cadbury's Milk Chocolate or some cheap version from a local supermarket (how do they get their prices so cheap?) does not matter, either form of the brown, smooth stuff will do.  I have created a 5 day chart with blank squares which will allow my daughter to place her chosen sun (not of the Jesus type) to fill one of the squares when she wakes in the morning.  The first morning resulted in a Penguin bar, the next reward came after two nights of staying in her bed, and the third, well let's just say we are still eagerly waiting.

The reward/bribe!

This way of rewarding is based on the behavioural technique known as positive reinforcement.  A reinforcer is a stimulus (the chocolate bar) which, when follows a response (staying in bed until 06:00), results in a change in the probability of the response reoccurring (staying in bed until 06:00 for ever and ever amen).  Reinforcement itself is the process by which a reinforcer increases the probability of a response.  In life, the most basic reinforcers are those related to survival e.g. food and water.  These are primary reinforcers as they have a biological significance.  However, in this case, we are looking at a conditioned reinforcer, something my daughter doesn't need for her survival (although she may argue that chocolate is essential to her existence).  A vital ingredient in the success of this approach, is contiguity i.e. the reinforcer should immediately follow the response.  In theory, when behaviour is followed by a positive reinforcer its frequency should increase.

Now, go out and test this theory to see how well it really works.

Sunrise with a touch of (Jo "Supernanny") Frost

Each morning, around 05:36, I wake up and see this little face (most of which is hidden behind a large dummy/soother) staring up at me.  It is, by a long shot, the greatest thing to wake up to; yet having said that, it is just too damn early for today’s instalment of fatherhood.  In my mind (all being well during the sleeping hours) fatherhood should start around 06:00 at the earliest!  

This is then followed by the ritual of me picking my little sweetheart up and carrying her kicking and screaming back to her room, instructing her to wait until “the sun comes up” before she comes into mommy and daddy’s room again.  Of course I don’t mean the real sun (here in the UK that can be 04:00 for around two weeks, 09:00 for 48 weeks, and never for 2 weeks).  I’m talking about her little Grobag Gro-Clock armed with disappearing stars and a winking sun!

 Each night we set the display of the Gro-Clock to the sleeping star, who then gives way to the waking sun at 06:00 (reminder: that is when fatherhood starts each day – if I repeat it enough times it may come true).  It’s probably easier for me to just pull her into bed with me at 05:36 and be done with it.  The reason I am persisting with carrying her back to her room is that I am trying to shape her behaviour.  Shaping, according to psychologist BF Skinner, is when one takes an existing response (waking at 05:36 and coming to our room) and slowly, but regularly, alters it across consecutive trials towards a final (target) desired behaviour (my daughter staying in her room until 06:00).  This is most effective when the behaviour is rewarded; in this case, getting all excited when she shows me the smiling sun and telling her how proud I am of her for staying in her room.  The theory is based on the principle of operant conditioning - when behaviour is modified by consequences.  We commonly know this as rewarding and punishing.  In fact, it is this principle which Jo Frost (aka “Supernanny”) uses to alter the behaviour of her clients’ problematic children.

If all else fails, I guess I’ll see you at 05:40 (4 minutes to shower and leave the house!)