Home > Parenting Resources > Baby Care > The Best Sleep Advice You’ve Never Heard!
Ah, blessed, luxurious sleep…remember what it was like to get eight uninterrupted hours a night? If you have young children, it probably seems like a distant memory. According to a 2004 National Sleep Foundation poll, up to 69 percent of kids age 10 and under have trouble falling asleep and staying there. As for the other 31 percent - what’s their secret? We turned to leading childhood sleep experts to help us uncover some surprising strategies that really work. Although newborns have a penchant for sleeping up to 18 hours a day, they do it in maddeningly short bursts around the clock. Here’s how to get your little Rip Van Winkle to put in a few of those hours {preferably in a row} during the night. Put your baby to bed when she’s drowsy, not fast asleep. This is a tall order, especially for breastfeeding moms, but master the timing and you’ll score some much-needed sack time. Babies who drift off on their own are more apt to fall asleep more quickly and learn how to soothe themselves to sleep easier, says Kim West, author of Good Night, Sleep Tight. West is a social worker in Annapolis, Maryland, as well as a professional sleep consultant who has helped more then 2,0000 families nationwide soothe trouble sleepers. Here’s her advice: Starting when your newborn is 6 to 8 weeks old, create a sleepiness scale from 1 to 10 - 1 is full-throttle and 10 is out cold. Wait until your baby hits number 7, and lay her down to sleep. Less-vigorous arm and leg action along with diminished sucking power (from nourishing to soothing) are both reliable signs she’s nearing sand land. Try not to look your baby in the eye. Many babies are easily stimulated. A loving look from you can take them from tired to wired faster than you can say, “uh oh.” Seeing your baby brighten at your glance is heartwarming at noon and discouraging at midnight. Parents who make eye contact with sleepy babies inadvertently encourage them to snap out of their sleep zone, says Claire Lerner, director of parent education at Zero to Three, a nonprofit that promotes the health of infants and toddlers. “The more interaction that takes place between you and your baby during the night, the more motivation they have to get up.” So what should you do instead? Lerner suggests keeping it low-key. If you must enter your baby’s sleep space at night, don’t hold her gaze, chitchat, or serenade her with your favorite Rolling stones hit. Keep your gaze on her belly and soothe her back to sleep with a soft voice and gentle touch, If your child wakes up, don’t turn on the lights or carry her into a brightly lighted room. The shift from dark to light tells her brain its time to rise and shine. Instead, soothe her back to sleep in her bedroom. If early morning sunlight prompts your child to wake too early or if she has trouble napping in the afternoon, install room-darkening shades. To help baby sleep through the night make sure he is properly dressed for bed. Choose baby clothes that are not to hot or too cold for the weather. One of the hottest baby shower gifts this season is a teddy bear that plays the sound of mom's heart beat. You may want to attach this soothing toy to baby's crib. This will help imitate the sounds of the womb which soothes your baby into a good night's sleep. Hope these suggestions help, now for some zzzzzzzzzz’s! |
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