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Forget Routine, Babies Need a Happy Mom at Bedtime
Parenting experts recommend routine, routine, routine when it comes to getting the baby down for a long night’s sleep. But bed, bath, book is beside the point, according to a new study in the latest issue of the Journal of Family Psychology.
What matters most? Mom’s attitude. If she’s emotionally present, warm and positive, she ups the chances of her baby sleeping well. If she’s cranky, baby’s cranky. And a cranky baby just won’t sleep.
Researchers tested 39 mothers for the “emotional intelligence” and then videotaped them putting the baby to bed (not enough fathers participated in bedtime routines to be included in the study).
Nursing babies to sleep didn’t make a difference. Neither did lots of close holding and hugging. It was mothers who had a positive attitude and warmth who had the best-slept babies. Irritable mothers’ kids fared the worse.
“Parents’ emotional availability at bedtimes may be as important, if not more important, than bedtime practices in predicting infant sleep quality,” the study says. Feeling safe where one sleeps is a prerequisite to good sleep, researchers say.
If you’re hating these warm glowing mothers, don’t. Researchers found that few moms could maintain that warmth and positivity as their sleeping babies became more obstinate toddlers.
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[...] says mamas have to not only perform the bedtime rituals they’ve established with their kids, they have to love it. A mom must be “present”, by which they mean serene, warm and attentive, in order to [...]
Bedtime: How Do You Make It Work? | Strollerderby commented on Jun 29 10 at 6:46 pmE commented on Jun 29 10 at 2:44 pmPlease, please rewrite the headline of this piece so that it is correct.
Madeline Holler commented on Jun 29 10 at 2:49 pmThank you, E. Working in a coffee shop this a.m. and it’s pretty distracting!
Angela Gail from First Time Second Time commented on Jun 29 10 at 3:13 pmI really wish experts who do studies would study fathers too. Maybe those moms wouldn’t be so cranky if somebody else put the baby to sleep sometime.
Voice of Reason commented on Jun 29 10 at 3:32 pmI hope I’m not the only one disturbed by the comment: ‘not enough fathers participated in bedtime routines to be included in the study’.
PlumbLucky commented on Jun 29 10 at 3:53 pmEither way, works for me. Routine = the babe’s needs supercede the inlaws wants. Happy non-stressed Mama = strangely the same deal!
Marj commented on Jun 30 10 at 10:17 amWell, me and my kids are out of luck then. When they are cranky, I get cranky. So by bedtime, I’m pretending and willing them to sleep.
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