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Dr. Gerald DeWittN e x t D o o r N e i g h b o r sHealthNavigatingYour Child’s Early YearsBy Greg Lilly, EditorWhen discussing children’s developmentfrom infancy to school-age, Dr. Gerald DeWittbrings up a point about a baby’s early development.“First, I tell parents that you cannottrain a baby to sleep through the night untilhe’s around four to six months old, but thething I try to emphasize to them is that sleepingthrough the night is not the child sleepinga solid eight hours.”Dr. DeWitt says the expression “sleepthrough the night” is an incorrect term.“For a parent, ‘sleeping through the night’ isthat the child does not wake up the parent duringthe night.” Dr. DeWitt explains that mostpeople do not sleep continuously through thenight, but actually wake up, look at the clock,Weight Loss With AMedical Degree of Difference.“My CMWL Doctor has the training and tools Idon’t find with other weight loss programs. Now Iunderstand the root causes of my weight issuesand feel confident I can overcome them with myown personalized plan.”roll over and go back to sleep, sometimes noteven remembering.“Children do the same thing,” he adds. “Ifthe baby is in the parent’s bedroom, and theyhear the child stirring around, they think he’snot sleeping through the night. He’s going todo that. You want him to learn how to gethimself back to sleep. You want to teach a childMarlene Capps, MDCommunicationChallenges?• Articulation Delays• Apraxia of Speech• AutismCall today to schedule acomplimentary consultation.(757) 645-3339to comfort themselves, teach them to go backto sleep when they wake up because they aregoing to wake up.”Dr. DeWitt grew up in Lynchburg, Virginiaand headed to school in Charlottesville. “I wasin Charlottesville for 15 years,” he says. “Allat the University of Virginia: undergraduate,medical school, residency and faculty. I spent• Parkinson’s Disease• Language Delays• Accent ModificationJacque Jordan, CCC-SLPChildren, Adolescents & AdultsWORDS MATTER, LLCSPEECH & LANGUAGE THERAPY SERVICES358 McLaws Circle, Suite 1 • www.wordsmatterslp.comLisa W. Cumming PhotographyNEXT DOOR NEIGHBORSAUGUST2011 39