Just like us, babies are individuals – we learn that when we are giving babies an opportunity to learn reading, math, encyclopedic knowledge at the young age, when we learn to communicate with baby and understand his or hers clues and signs, and this goes for sleep requirements too.
It may help (or not, if you are suffering from sleep deprivation and just wish that baby "would sleep thorough the night") to realise that in most infant sleep studies, ‘all night’ is defined as five hours.
If you are thinking that even five hours uninterrupted sleep would be a dream come true, there are some gentle strategies you can try to help your baby, and you, to sleep better. These are just some ideas, and I hope these would be of help:
1.
Know the signs – None of us like being kept awake when we are craving sleep, so rather than waiting until your baby is ‘past it’, put her to bed as soon as she shows sleepy signs such as becoming quiet, yawning, making “jerky” movements, losing interest in people and toys, staring blankly (Baby Whisperer author Tracy Hogg calls it a "one mile stare") and fussing. If you miss this window of opportunity, your baby is likely to become grumpy and find it difficult to settle.
2.
Introduce bedtime rituals – bedtime routines can become cues that help even tiny babies wind down and become conditioned to fall asleep. Some ideas: give her a warm relaxation bath just before bedtime ( Tip- wrap and cuddle baby dry in a warm towel so she isn’t upset by her startle reflex). Change her in cozy pajamas and read a few minutes of story or poems, with dim lights. Settle him comfortably with a cozy blanket or cuddle that they go to sleep with. Do a few minutes of rocking and cuddling together, dim the lights and put a selection of soft classical music … There many ideas and you can discover a routine that would work best for you!
3.
A soothing touch – Research from Miami University showed that infants and toddlers who were massaged daily for one month, for 15 minutes prior to bedtime, fell asleep more easily by the end of the study. There are many books out there to learnabout infant massage, it is simple, bounding and beneficial.
4.
Soothing sounds – The calming, repetitive sounds of traditional lullabies recall the ‘womb music’ your baby heard before birth (your heartbeat, and fluids whooshing through the placenta). Baby music that incorporates elements such as the rhythm of the maternal heartbeat or ‘white noise’ has remarkable soothing effects, especially if played continuously through the night. Our favorite is the ocean wave soothing sound -- a small sound machine we kept in our bedroom till we moved to the beach and have the real ocean doing the job now!
5.
Soothing aroma - There is a number of essential oils that are safe to use for your baby's massage before the bedtime or to put in vaporizer. ( you can order on line some pre-made massage blends that are safe for babies, and generally when you put oil in vaporizer, put just one or two drops max…) here are some ideas for the oils: lavender ( excellent calming and sleep aid), Mandarin essential oil (soothing and uplifting oil. It has balancing and stimulating properties and is also known to support emotional balance. This oil will support healthy sleep patterns and relax fretful babies) ;Neroli essential oil (supports healthy circulation throughout the body, helping to soothe the baby's spirit); Chamomile essential oil (imparts a sense of calm and relaxation. Chamomile has been studied for its calming properties - specifically in babies. (Weizman, Z., Alkrinawi, S.Goldfarb, D., and Bitran, C. “ J Pediatr. 1993;122(4):650-652.)) These are just some ideas and you can get in depth information in books on aromatherapy.
6.
Rock a bye baby – The motion of a rocking chair or being carried in a sling as you walk will lull baby to sleep. So will a special-purpose baby hammock – and as baby moves and arouses during the night, her movements will start the hammock rocking. We used hammock with our second child and love it!
7.
All snuggled up – The startle reflex, a primitive survival reflex that produces spontaneous, jerky movements, even in sleep, can be disturbing. You can provide a sense of security by swaddling your newborn – wrapping him firmly in a gauze or muslin sheet (in summer) or a soft shawl in winter. Gradually wrap more loosely and discard the wrap as this reflex disappears (by around three months). Our boy is not swaddled anymore, but every night when he goes to bed he holds tightly and securely his "swaddle shawl", he just feels secure with it and loves holding it with his hands when he goes to sleep.
8.
Cut caffeine – If you are breastfeeding, caffeine can create a vicious circle: You drink coffee (or tea or cola) to give you a hit, baby gets a boost of stimulant through your milk- and becomes restless. Newborns are particularly vulnerable to caffeine: A newborn may take up to ninety seven hours to get rid of caffeine so the effects will be accumulative.
9.
Daytime feeds – Tiny tummies need frequent refills, but soon your baby will start sleeping at least one longer stretch between feeds. If baby sleeps more than four hours between feeds during the day, it is reasonable to GENTLY unwrap him and offer a feed, then he might save his longer sleep for night -time. However, be patient if he is not ready to alter his pattern.
10.
Try a top up feed – Whatever time your baby was last fed, gently offer a feed just before you go to bed yourself (don’t wake him, he will suck in his sleep) and, with luck, his longer sleep may coincide with yours. Try it a few times and you can master it pretty well
11.
Teach her day from night – Teach baby the difference between night and day by keeping the lights low and attending to him quietly during night feeds. Save play and chatter for daytime.
12.
Do not disturb – Avoid waking baby during night feed times by changing the diaper either before or half way through a feed, not when baby is all 'groggy' and full. If baby is falling asleep during feeds, so only having a short feed, try changing the nappy half way through, then offering the other breast.
13.
Falling asleep on the breast is one of the easiest ways for most babies to settle. This is due to hormones released while your baby feeds but if you are concerned about it becoming a habit, alternate feeding with other sleep cues
14.
Share sleep – Research shows that mothers and babies who sleep together (within reach of each other, not necessarily in the same bed) share the same sleep cycles, so these mothers get more sleep overall.
15.
A little bit of mummy – it’s not exactly a substitute for you, but if you slip your own soft, unwashed tee-shirt over baby’s mattress, she will be comforted by your familiar smell as she sleeps.
16.
Stop the Clock – Simply knowing how long you are awake can be enough to make you too tense to get back to sleep, or it may encourage you to rush your baby and make him feel anxious. If you see your baby's waking as a genuine need, it could help you to enjoy this precious cuddle time: feel the softness of his skin, breathe in his delicious smell and snuggle!
Hope some of these will help
If you are interested in resources (articles/websites/books) for research-based information on infant sleep, night time parenting, baby crying, need for nourishment and comfort at night, and physiological body and brain responses to 'controlled crying,' 'cry it out,' or 'sleep training' methods, as well psychological conditioning studies on learned helplessness (which occurs to babies whose care-givers utilize these methods). Here is an excellent collection of resources that you can study:
http://www.drmomma.org/2009/12/sleep-training-review-of-research.htmlOh, and I second lzp11 on the "Babywhisperer" recommendation - I personally liked the book a lot and there were a lot of great tips and routine ideas, there were a few thing that I disagreed with, but not fundamental enough and I just skipped a few parts
Hope you mommies will get a better sleep
Digg
