Baby Sleep Issues - Successful Parenting

Baby sleep basics: Birth to 3 months

Reviewed by the BabyCenter Medical Advisory Board

Typical sleep patterns at this age

Newborns sleep a lot — typically 14 to 18 hours a day during the first week and 12 to 16 hours a day by the time they're a month old. But most babies don't stay asleep for more than two to four hours at a time, day or night, during the first few weeks of life.

The result? Lots of sleep for your baby and a very irregular — and tiring — schedule for you. Your job is to respond to your newborn's cues, so you'll probably be up several times during the night to change, feed, and comfort him.

What's going on
Baby sleep cycles are far shorter than those of adults, and babies spend more time in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, which is thought to be necessary for the extraordinary development happening in their brain. REM sleep is lighter than non-REM sleep, and more easily disrupted.

All this unpredictability is a necessary phase for your baby and it doesn't last long — though it may seem like an eternity when you're sleep-deprived.

What's next
At 6 to 8 weeks of age, most babies begin to sleep for shorter periods during the day and longer periods at night, though most continue to wake up to feed during the night. They also have shorter periods of REM sleep, and longer periods of deep, non-REM sleep.

Somewhere between 3 and 6 months, experts say, most babies are capable of sleeping through the night. They're not talking about eight hours, though — they generally mean a stretch of five or six hours.

Some infants sleep for a long stretch at night as early as 6 weeks, but many babies don't reach that milestone until they're 5 or 6 months old and some continue to wake up at night into toddlerhood. You can help your baby get there sooner, if that's your goal, by teaching him good sleep habits from the start.

How you can establish good sleep habits

Here are some tips for helping your baby settle down to sleep:

Learn the signs that mean he's tired.
For the first six to eight weeks, most babies aren't able to stay up much longer than two hours at a time. If you wait longer than that to put your baby down, he may be overtired and have trouble falling asleep.

Watch your baby for signs that he's tired. Is he rubbing his eyes, pulling on his ear, or developing faint dark circles under his eyes? If you spot these or any other signs of sleepiness, try putting him down to sleep. You'll soon develop a sixth sense about your baby's daily rhythms and patterns, and you'll know instinctively when he's ready for a nap.

Begin to

teach him the difference between day and night.
Some infants are night owls (something you may have gotten a hint of during pregnancy) and will be wide awake just when you want to hit the hay. For the first few days you won't be able to do much about this. But once your baby is about 2 weeks old, you can start teaching him to distinguish night from day.

When he's alert and awake during the day, interact with him as much as you can, keep the house and his room light and bright, and don't worry about minimizing regular daytime noises like the phone, TV, or dishwasher. If he tends to sleep through feedings, wake him up.

At night, don't play with him when he wakes up. Keep the lights and noise level low, and don't spend too much time talking to him. Before long he should begin to figure out that nighttime is for sleeping.

Consider starting a bedtime routine.
It's never too early to start trying to follow a bedtime routine. It can be something as simple as getting your baby changed for bed, singing a lullaby, and giving him a kiss goodnight.

Give him a chance to fall asleep on his own.
By the time he's 6 to 8 weeks old, you can start giving your baby a chance to fall asleep on his own. How? Put him down when he's sleepy but still awake, suggests Jodi Mindell, associate director of the Sleep Disorders Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and author of Sleeping T

hrough the Night.

Mindell advises against rocking or nursing your baby to sleep, even at this young age. "Parents think that what they do this early doesn't have an effect," she says, "but it does. Babies are learning their sleep habits. If you rock your child to sleep every night for the first eight weeks, why would he expect anything different later on?"

Not everyone agrees with this strategy, however. Some parents choose to rock or nurse their babies to sleep because they believe it's normal and natural, because they enjoy it and their baby is thriving and sleeping well, or simply because nothing else seems to work.

THE BABY SLEEP SOLUTION

Get Baby To Sleep Through The Night

New Baby in the House

We had our baby last Wednesday, September 23 at 4:15 am. I had a natural labor and it went real quick. We had a girl 7 pounds 4 ounces and 19 inches long. She is absolutely beautiful. We are all adjusting well. My 6 year old and 4 year old absolutely love her and are so helpful. She sleeps well and eats well.

So now I need to focus on my Successful Parenting website and give some updates and useful articles.

Click Here For Helping Baby Sleep Through The Night!

Parenting - Daily Struggle

I struggle daily on whether or not I am being a good parent and whether or not I am raising my children to be strong individuals. It is so hard to stay in control when your children are challenging your sanity. I am listening to an audio series called Scream Free Parenting by Hal Runkel, LMFT. It teaches you to begin with your self and get yourself in the right place. If you have issues handle them first before handling the behavior issues you wish to address with your child. I have trouble with this because I feel like I am being selfish if I take time to be by myself or do things for myself. I believe a lot of moms feel this way. We feel like if we are not always there for our families then we are not doing our job.

I often find myself trying to keep my cool and not lash out on my kids. Especially at night. We have a nightly routine. We get in jammies, we brush our teeth, we have mellow time for a little while, then we read books and then it is bedtime. Bedtime is a horrible experience every night. My kids cry and say they don't love me and I am so mean to them and I do not let them do anything. They'll say things like I do not love them and stuff and then it is crying for quite along time. Mainly my six year old. My three year old it is only for a few minutes and then he stays in his bed. But my six year old she will throw things,cry really loud and hurt herself. I feel bad for my son because he has to listen to her. Last night I let him sleep on the couch and that made her even more mad.

When they are saying these things and throwing fits. I just want to freak out on them right back. It is really hard to walk away from them. I have found myself saying You think I do not do anything for you? I can show you how I do not do anything for you? Or I can show you how I do not allow you to do anything?

I do not believe that is helpful but sometimes it is really hard to control your emotions and reactions.

I get scared sometimes that I am about to have three soon. My husband and I work opposite shifts so he is not home at night , 6 nights a week. So I feel like I am going to have it in for me soon when I have three crying at bedtime.

I know this is not much of an advice post but maybe more of a venting post.

Helping children to sleep in their own bed throughout the night.

I am a mom of a 6 year old girl and a 3 year old boy. We allowed them to sleep in our bed for too long. They would start off in their beds but in the middle of the night we would have a dog and two kids in bed with us. I'm pregnant and due in about 4-6 weeks. I was getting to uncomfortable in the middle of the night being cramped between two kids and a dog at my feet. So at the beginning of summer I told them for each time they slept in their own bed all night they get a sticker. We kept track on the calendar and for each week if they slept in their own bed for 4 nights then they got an ice cream from the ice cream man. It only worked for a few weeks and then the ice cream man was getting expensive. So now they both want new backpacks for school. That is their prize if they can continue sleeping in their own bed. If only some nights they both can sleep in their own bed all night. It is hard to bribe the dog she sneaks up and I have to kick her off.