I have mentioned “cues for sleep” in some of my previous advice about sleep and babies.  I thought I might elaborate on what this actually means.

When I was preparing to get my twins to sleep through the night, I read a book by Dr Brian Symon (I

think), who is a Dr who specializes in childrens sleep problems.  It was from this book (I took some notes so I could remember), plus learning from my own mistakes, that I was able to teach my youngest good sleep habits.

Here are some important points about sleep:

~ To get to sleep we need consistent cues for sleep, babies and adults alike.  Think about what you do every night before you go to bed…..you have a routine: you feel tired, you may have a drink of water, a toilet break, read a book, the lights are turned out, you are on your pillow and in the position you prefer to sleep in.  When all these factors are in place, you are able to go to sleep easily- more easily than if the lights were on, you were in someone elses bed or forced to sleep in a position that you are not used to (hi to all those pregnant ladies out there…..you know what I mean!).  When you wake in the middle of the night, if something is missing from these cues (eg. Your pillow has fallen on the floor) then it is harder to achieve sleep again.  Babies need these cues too.

~ “A cue for sleep is any environmental or emotional factor that can be learned through routine and repetition to allow sleep to occur and be maintained”.

~ The important part here: it needs to be maintained (the cue and the sleep).  If you start out with a cue that you may find difficult to maintain, then your baby may have sleep problems or you may get stressed and tired trying to maintain it.  Obviously night feeds cant be avoided in the first few months, but the way in which you get your child back to sleep after a feed can mean the difference between an easy transition to a night without feeds or a difficult transition.  If you feel you have to rock your baby to sleep and then carefully put him back to bed after a feed, you may not want to carry on with this once your baby stops night feeds (been there, done that).

~sleeping factors for babies include:

Time (after a feed, being tired)

Place (own cot)

Smells (usual smells of the home and mums milk)

Sounds (usual sounds of the home)

Internal comfort( Full tummy, free from wind or reflux, no pain)

External comfort (wrapped, not too hot or cold)

Comforting objects (such as a dummy, favourite blanket or toy)

Parental care (cuddles, patting, holding, rocking)

You may choose to teach your baby cues for sleep that are as simple as just putting him down in his cot and tucking him in when he is tired but quiet and comfortable; or you can teach cues that are much more complex, which may include wrapping, dummy or feed, rocking to sleep then patting when in the cot.  whatever cues you teach your baby, know that your baby will become dependent on these and you will have to continue your settling behaviours whenever the baby wakes if the baby has not learned to put himself back to sleep.

Dr Symon believes that any or all of these cues can be learned by a baby.  I believe that you should teach your baby those cues which you are willing to continue with.  For example: if you don’t want your baby sleeping in your bed, then teach him to sleep in his own cot, if you don’t want to pat your child to sleep after every waking cycle, then teach your baby to put himself back to sleep.  if you don’t mind doing this every few hours, then that’s ok- keep in mind though: the intervention of rocking a child to sleep does not allow for deep sleep and therefore the baby usually wakes when put down and the rocking is stopped.  If the cues for sleep include parent participation (such as cuddling, patting, feeding), then it is likely that us parents will be called back later to participate in another sleep transition- during a normal waking episode.

~The next important part of that definition is that it needs to be repeated.  A routine that is consistent will be successful.  If changes are required, then these changes need to be consistently repeated until new behaviours are learned.

~ During sleep, at the end of a sleep cycle, we all have waking episodes, which may last 1-2 minutes before we go back to sleep.  Most of the time, we don’t even recognize that we have even woken.  At the start of sleep, we require tiredness to return to sleep after a wake episode.  Towards the end of sleep, cues are more important to get us back to sleep again (as we have slept enough to no longer be tired enough to rely on to return us to sleep).  Babies have shorter sleep cycles than adults.  A baby will have several brief waking episodes in between a 4 hour feed regime.

~learn you baby’s tired signs and use this as a cue for sleep.  Signs may include yawning, rubbing at eyes or face, pulling ears, becoming irritable and fidgety, amongst others.  Put your baby to bed when these tired sings start, as overtired babies are more difficult to settle.  Handling the over tired baby is counterproductive.  It simply prolongs the time that baby is awake and should be asleep.  Over tired babies are also easily woken.

~Good sleep is a learned skill.  Good sleep also results in better learning (the rested brain takes in more than the tired brain).  Sleep is hence better learned after a good sleep!  Tiredness interferes with learning new skills.

~A baby who gets enough sleep will sleep well and sleep deeply- through noise and movement in and near their room.  They are clam, go to sleep easily and may transition through a sleep cycle without you even knowing they have been awake.  A baby who does not get enough sleep will wake easily, take longer to get back to sleep, are unable to return to sleep on their own and cry.

~ teach the difference between night and day early on.  Day time is for feeds, attention, cuddles, parent contact and stimulation.  Night time is for quiet, sleep and minimal interactions.  Try not to reward your baby with your attention at night.  It will only encourage him to call you back later- then you don’t get any sleep either.  don't feel that you are starving your baby of attention if you don't cuddle your baby to sleep with every waking moment.....if your baby gets enough cuddles and attention during the day, there is no need to deprive yourself and your baby of sleep in the middle of the night.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

-Parents teach their babies how to go to sleep by how they let them go to sleep.

-Babies become dependent on the cues for sleep that are taught to them.

-Babies do not need to be rocked or fed to sleep, they can learn other ways to achieve sleep.

-Babies need to be comfortable in order to achieve sleep- ensure baby is not in pain due to wind or teething etc, baby is warm enough, has a clean nappy etc.

-Day time is for parent contact, night time is for sleep.

-Babies need good sleep in order to learn.

Right from the start, I knew that I wanted my youngest to sleep well and be able to put herself back to sleep when she woke at the end of a sleep cycle. I did not want to be pacing the lounge room floor in the middle of the night with a baby that would not settle (like I had done with previous babies), given I had my twins to have to be awake for during the day as well.  I achieved this by making her routine of noting her tired signs, wrapping/swaddling, 2-5 minute cuddle and then putting her down when she was still awake but quiet and comfortable.  By the time we left hospital, she was sleeping for 6-7 hour strectches overnight (I fed her more often during the day to make up for this).  And has continued to be a good sleeper.  Good sleeping habits need to be taught and the earlier the better, although, cues for sleep can be changed if you are patient and consistent.

If you are having problems getting your baby to sleep, get some assistance from somewhere like child and youth health.  They can refer you to a residential mother and baby establishment such as Torrens house (Adelaide) where nursing staff can assist if problems persist.

Dr Symon is pro controlled crying and this is not for everyone.  Although I have tried this on my twins, I decided my third baby did not require controlled crying (nor did I want to use it on her), as we taught her good sleeping habits early.  I didn’t want her keeping the other kids awake all night anyway.  I just feel that it’s important to understand sleep, why we need sleep and how we achieve sleep so that we can teach good habits to our babies.