Get Realistic Expectations About Your Baby’s Sleep Habits
None of us sleep well when we’re anxious or irritated, and babies are no different. So before bedtime, take steps to ensure that your baby feels safe, secure, happy, and loved. And if you detect negative emotions in your baby, counter them with soothing and reassurance. Your infant’s brain needs to mature to allow for longer sleep cycles. When your infant has less sleep cycles there is less potential to wake during the night. Typically, this happens around 9-12 months. It may help to remember that all babies over 5 months of age wake 4-6 times during the night, as they come to the end of each sleep cycle. This is normal, and also occurs with older children and adults. It’s the falling back to sleep that can be difficult. Go into sleep work with an open mind and don’t beat yourself up if things don’t always go smoothly. For the most part, good habits lead to good sleep, but parents quickly learn to expect the unexpected! The more flexible, open and accepting of this you are, the better. After all, your child will feel your relaxed energy and will match it. And above all, you’re doing your best. Newborns take frequent naps lasting anywhere from 2 to 4 hours, for a total of 16 to 18 hours of sleep each day. New parents are often severely sleep deprived if the only sleep they’re getting is overnight. Sleeping while the baby sleeps can sometimes be challenging because of other kids in the house or our internal body clocks, but it’s a good idea to try and get some rest. Having a baby is a steep learning curve and aspects such as How To Become A Sleep Consultant come along and shake things up just when you’re not expecting them.
It is important not to feed your baby more frequently than every two and a half hours during the first six weeks, unless there is a medical reason and your pediatrician advises you follow a more frequent feeding schedule. Your baby’s digestive system needs time to process the food. It is more common for babies to be around a year old before they sleep all through the night. Your lack of sleep won’t last forever. Today’s new parents have little experience with babies – amazingly, many have never even touched a newborn in their lives! So they seek answers from the piles of sleep manuals on bookstore shelves. (Over the past twenty years, more sleep manuals have come and gone than any other type of parenting book.) Naps are beneficial for your little one’s mental development and can help improve mood. The right amount of nap time during the day can even help your child fall asleep at night. And, nap times can also give you a much-needed break. Research shows a clear link between overheating and an increased risk of sudden unexpected death in infancy, so it is important that parents and carers know how to dress baby for sleep. A sleep consultant will take a holistic approach to create a sleeping system that you can manage and one which takes into account 4 Month Sleep Regression as well as the needs of the baby and considerations of each family member.
Settling Your Baby
For some new parents, one of the toughest challenges is sleep or should I say, the lack-there of. It is important to recognise that every baby is different, especially when it comes to how often and how long they sleep for. Putting your cot in the right spot is key. Pick a location that isn’t in the direct pathway of your air-conditioning or heating vents since sudden temperature changes will startle and disturb baby. The cot should also be placed away from windows to protect your little one from drafts and outside noise. Newborns sleep about 16 hours a day, usually in 3- to 4-hour periods. Your baby needs to eat every few hours, which is why she doesn’t sleep for longer periods of time. Your baby may get cranky or overtired if she doesn’t get enough sleep. Try rocking baby to sleep in a bedside rocking chair, or walk with baby, patting her back and singing or praying. Balancing how to respond to night wakings and the need for night feedings is something to discuss with your baby’s health care provider when you are working on sleep training. A sleep expert will be with you every step of the way, guiding you on how best to find a solution to your sleep concerns, whether its Sleep Regression or one of an untold number of other things.
Once baby is beyond the six-month mark, you can work on settling them into their own room. Experts recommend putting baby in their own room for at least one nap a day to start. This gets baby acclimated to their room, so when it’s time to move in there, it’s not a total change. Having a baby monitor can help you distinguish what kind of cry it is. Without having to go in and disturb them, you can hear the cry from the monitor and know whether it is a hungry cry and you need to go in or if your baby is distressed or they are simply groaning in their sleep and haven’t really woken up – and going in would risk properly waking them up. Sleep is a developmental process, and our sleep needs change throughout our lifetimes. Babies’ sleep patterns mature over the first several years of life, and the sleep architecture of newborns is very different to that of adults. Too-tight pajamas, a strand of hair wrapped around a toe (it happens!), a leaky nappy – there are all sorts of things that can cause baby discomfort throughout the night. And some babies are more sensitive than others. Check baby for potential irritants, like hair or a rough snap on their sleeper, before bedtime. Baby sleeps best when the temperature is consistent and cool. That also means baby shouldn’t be over-bundled: Instead of heavy clothes, dress baby in layers, so you can regulate baby’s temperature and comfort levels accordingly. If you need guidance on Ferber Method then let a sleep consultant support you in unlocking your child’s potential, with their gentle, empathetic approach to sleep.
Whatever Gets You Through The Night Is Alright
The wind down for a toddler isn’t that different than for a young baby. Still cut out noise/TV/other distractions, followed by a bath, story and a cuddle. And everyone – toddler included – will feel the benefit in the morning. Sometimes high-need babies associate a parent’s body with play and stimulation and will not drift off to sleep in a human swing. For them, the mechanical one is less stimulating, if not downright boring, and therefore can be a useful part of a sleep-ritual repertoire. Develop a bedtime routine. Establish a consistent bedtime routine that includes calm and enjoyable activities that you can stick with as your baby gets older. Examples include a bath and bedtime stories. The activities occurring closest to “lights out” should occur in the room where your baby sleeps. Also, avoid making bedtime feedings part of the bedtime routine after 6 months. A younger baby’s natural bedtime will be similar to the mother’s and he/she may stay awake for a longer period in the evening, perhaps wanting to feed almost constantly during this time. Your baby could be overstimulated. It’s hard to sleep when the world is full of fun things to do, especially when it’s getting close to bedtime and everyone is home. If that’s the case, switch your bedtime routine into slow and boring mode, with rocking, simple storytelling and some soothing music. The gentle approach and caring manner of a baby sleep expert allows them to assist you in the most preferable way to deal with Sleep Consultant Training Course and to assist you and your family in any way possible.↑
