Young babies have different sleep requierments, but unless ill, in pain or very uncomfortable, they will usually sleep as much as they need to given the right circumstances. If you are a new parent, you may find the following advice helpful.
First:
1. understand that good sleep patterns are important for growth and development. The greatest release of growth hormones occurs during sleep.
GETTING TO KNOW YOUR BABY...
2. babies need warmth, food, sleep and social stimulation. Not giving enough or giving to much of any of these requierments may cause common infant settling problems.
3. Remeber that crying is usually a natural part of a young baby's development.
4. Recognise when your baby is tierd. These subtle signals are often misinterpreted and may be diagnosedas other conditions such as pain, colic or even hunger. Classic signs of tierdness are yawning, grizzling, jerking movements and crying.
5. To help your baby distinguish between night and day, allow him or her to sleep as long as they wish through the night, but don't let a young baby go longer than 4 hours between feeds during the day. Four hourly feeds are timed from the start of one feed to the start of the next. This means that, sometimes, your baby will need to be woken during the day.
6. You cannot make a baby who is not tierd, sleep. But , by distraction, you can make one who is tierd stay awake.
7. The younger the baby, the more sleep they need. Most young babies need between sixteen and eighteen hours a day. Some sleep more, but few babies need significantly less. During the first year, sleep needs decrease by about 1 1/2 hours every 3 months.
8. Growth spurts may make your baby feed more frequently but this should last one or two days only. Not all babies become unsettled during growyh spurts. Growth spurts tend to occur at about 3 weeks, six weeks, 3 months and 5 months.
9. Think carefully about your parenting style. Be aware of what you are teaching your baby. Your baby learns about the world from experience and starts to make connections between eventsand rembebers what brings him or her success. Frequently changing parenting styles will only confuse and cause upset.
10. Breast and bottle fed babies both have the same sleep needs.
HELPING BABY TO BE MORE COMFORTABLE:
11. Make sure your baby's sleep room is at a comfortable temperature, but not too hot... 17-20oC is best. If the tummy and back are warm, your baby is warm. Hands or feet that are cool to touch do not necessarily mean your baby is cold. Babies who are too hot do not sleep well.
12. Babies do not need silence to be able to sleep well. Nor do they need darkness. However, they do need to be left undisturbed.
13. Brief wakenings through the sleep period are normal. during settled sleep, these will pass unnoticed, although your baby may make small noises. During unsettled sleep, your baby will cry.
14. Once put to bed, allow your baby ten minutes to seetle. This period can offten be accompanied by some grizzling or crying. If your baby is not over-tierd, this crying will usually be minimal and should diminish as he or she gets more proficient at settling themselves.
15. Babies thrive on responable regularity. if baby's routine needs to be disrupted, a period of upset can follow. Compensate for this or return to the routine as soon as possible.
16. Have all family mambers put your baby to sleep in the same way. Babies are more settled if they know what is expected of them. Baby routines are a form of 'same way' parenting.
17. If your baby settles easilt but wakes soon afetr settling, try to consider why he or she may be reluctant to settle by themselves. for example, if your baby falls asleep in your arms and you then put them to bed, they may wake up and cry.
18. Babies who have become overtired may have difficultu in falling and staying asleep.
CAUSES AND CURSES OF CRYING:
19. Recognise what your baby needds for his or her particular age. It's easy, especially for first-time parents, to think that baby is capable of thinking and acting in ways more mature than normal age development would suggest. This can be streddful, and usually make a baby irritable and unhappy.
20. Feed patterns are intricately linked to sleep patterns. Feeds which take too long may tier your baby unnexxessarily and make sleep more.
21. Most hungry babies do not sleep well, but some sleep too much. If your baby is gaining weight within normal guidelines, then restlessnes is unlikely to be caused by hunger.If your baby's weight gains are inadequate, even though he or she sleeps particularly well and offten has to be woken for feeds, then under-norishment could well be a problem. Seek professional help.
22. All babies have wind. Although normal wind may cause slight, temporay discomfort, it does not cause pain. If your baby seems to be in pain from 'wind', seek advice about reasons from a health professional.
23. Babies who are unwell are not always unsettled or in pain. Some sleep longer than usual, especially if the illness induces fever. If your baby has a painful condition, only give regular pain relif after seeking professional advice. Sleep patterns which are disrupted by illness or immunisations should be restored to their usual patterns as soon as possible.
24. Young babies do not need toys in their cots to help them sleep. Older babies may enjoy having some toys or snuggle rugs to cuddle or play with.
IMPORTANT REMINDERS:
25. The best positions for babies to sleep in, is on their backs. When babies sleep on their tummies, they may be at increased risk of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome).
26. Maternal health issues sometimes influence infant settling. The reason for this is not fully understood, but if you've tried 'everything' and your baby is still unsettled and you feel unhappy, seek professional assessment.
(August 2006) (
