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5 Tips for Better Sleep in 2011: Babies
Sleep like a baby in 2011
New Year’s day is fast approaching, and the end of the year is a good time to take stock of sleep in your house. If your baby (and by extension, you) are not getting enough zzz’s, maybe there are some tweaks you can make to get better naps or longer nighttime stretches in 2011 — sounds pretty good, right?
Sure, every baby is slightly different when it comes to sleep. But our little ones also come into the world biologically programmed with certain things in common – like a circadian rhythm that responds well to timing and light cues. The more you’re aware of these natural tendencies, the better you can harness and use them to everyone’s advantage.
Here are 5 ways to help your baby sleep sleep well in 2011:
1. Early bedtime: It’s counterintuitive, but most babies sleep longer and better at night when they have an early bedtime. Babies are highly attuned to morning light – it tells their circadian rhythms to get the day started early (painful as it might before parents). By four months old, most babies do best with a bedtime of 7 or 7:30 p.m. to get the full 11 or so hours they need at night (this includes middle-of-the-night wake ups).
2. Check your daytime wake-windows: Babies nap best when you follow their natural biological rhythms to determine sleep times. As a guide, newborn wake windows are about 90 minutes; 4-6 months olds about 2 hours in the morning and 2.5 to 3 hours before bed; 6-9 month olds about 2.5 hours in the morning and 3-4 hours before bed; and 9-12 month olds 2.5 hours in the morning to 4 hours before bed. Throughout the day, start your nap routine 15 minutes before the end of these wake windows.
3. Make it a goal to put your baby down drowsy but awake. The earlier you can start this habit, the better. All babies wake up at night (like most adults), but the “good sleepers” know how to put themselves back to sleep.
4. Remember that babies are noisy at night (just like they are during the day!). Don’t assume that grunting, feet kicking, or other night noises mean your baby needs you. If you give her a little space, she might go back to sleep on her own – that’s a valuable life skill to learn. Of course, unless you’re doing a well thought-out sleep training program, when your baby cries, go to her.
5. When you do, try soothing by the least invasive method first (assuming your baby doesn’t need to eat). Maybe that means giving her the pacifier, rubbing her back, or rocking a bit. Keep the lights off, and use as little stimulation as possible.
Do you have any baby sleep tips to add? Please share!
Image: flickr/peasap
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12 Comments
Linda, the original one commented on Dec 27 10 at 1:49 pm“Of course, unless you’re doing a well thought-out sleep training program, when your baby cries, go to her.” No. You ALWAYS attend to a crying infant.
MsMamaB commented on Dec 27 10 at 3:04 pmOK, I’ve been having trouble with my almost 9 month old not taking a very good afternoon nap. Following the advice in #2, if his bedtime is 7, then I should put him down for an afternoon nap at 2:45? Is that right?
WildernessBarbie commented on Dec 27 10 at 3:20 pm“Of course, unless you’re doing a well thought-out sleep training program, when your baby cries, go to her.” No. You ALWAYS attend to a crying infant.
A child is considered an infant up to two years of age (from what I could find), and it seems MANY sleep and child psychology experts will say that letting a child figure out how to self soothe starting at 4-6 months is a very important life skill to learn. There is no way I’ll be jumping up every time my six+ month old daughter starts to cry, that would make for a very tired and unhappy mom which= unhappy and insecure baby.
My friends who do that are at their 2yo daughter’s beck-and-call 24/7, and she has them well trained to attend to her every need instantly. Very high-maintenance child that one. We haven’t been able to have them over to a dinner party in years because no one else can take care of their daughter as good as they can. Oy.
Elissa commented on Dec 27 10 at 3:29 pmYes, you should always respond to your baby crying, but I’d be careful not to rush in straight away. I have watched my son have a little cry in his sleep, without even opening his eyes. It only lasts a minute or so and, if I rushed in to save him, I would actually wake him up!
My sleep tip is, at least for naps, don’t always put them down in the same place. The sooner they learn to nap in strange places and, at times, in less than ideal circumstances, the easier it becomes to get them to sleep in general.
I am lucky to have a good sleeper, but I helped him learn from day one. We used to have a sleep routine that lasted 20 mins or so. Now he is 9 weeks and I can just swaddle him, put him down and walk away. Most of the time, anyway.
Linda, the original one commented on Dec 27 10 at 3:41 pmActually, attending to the needs of a six month old crying INFANT creates secure attachment. Emotional neglect hinders it, and yeah, that’s what leaving a baby to cry IS. I knew this thread had the potential to completely piss me off, so I’m out.
Andrea commented on Dec 27 10 at 10:43 pmI cosleep with my two year old and have never let him cry longer than I can help it, and he’s the most independent kid I know during the day. He can entertain himself for hours and is happy to spend time with several care providers (grandparents, gym employees, aunts, etc.). Kids are all different. Being needy or manipulative is not the direct and obvious result of responding to needs.
heatherturgeon commented on Dec 28 10 at 2:24 pmMSMAMAB: that sounds about right – around 3 hours in between her naps. is she taking her first one around 9:30? in my experience, the afternoon nap is always harder. if you stick to a consistent routine and time many babies fall back into a good pattern — even if she just plays and talks in the crib, it’s still rest, right?
heatherturgeon commented on Dec 28 10 at 2:26 pmAndrea: you bring up a good point, every family’s goals for sleep are different – no one size fits all. and i agree completely that attending to our babies (and kids) is how they develop self esteem and independence.
in response to the letting a baby cry question: when i say to give our babies a little space, it’s not to ignore their needs, it’s to make sure we know what they’re really telling us before we step in to fix it. if we resist the urge to jump (and i’m talking 30 seconds even here), it’s more chance for our babies to show us what they’re capable of.
Nana commented on Jan 09 11 at 1:26 pmMy children are now in their 30s. I did not let them cry. Frankly, bedtime was never all that mechanized and, yes, it would have been easier on us if we had set up and adhered to a rigid bedtime schedule, come what may. But my kids always were and continue to be loving, intelligent, motivated, secure individuals. This probably had little to do with anything I did or didn’t do. The point is: picking up a crying child at night, and even having your children sleep with you, is not going to spoil the child.
jas commented on Jan 10 12 at 5:57 pmmy son is 10 months old and he has a great sleeping pattern besides when he is teething (thank god thats done for now) I learned from watching my friends that the more you spoil your child as in rocking them to sleep and letting them sleep with you the harder it is to break them out of that.what worked for me is making sure my son is fed changed myb bathed and is in a tierd mood usually around 8. lay him down or put him in his swing and sit there for a min he will wine and cry myb 2 mins but i know he doesnt want anything and b4 i know it he is out for the night and everything around him is dead air cause hes not waking up.now he doesnt even lik to lay in the bed with me at all or even lay on my chest to go to sleep he just fights it more..every child is different but my son is very independent and a great sleeper myb not so much a napper
Your mom commented on Mar 06 12 at 3:56 pmWhatever happened to “treating a baby like a baby, so you don’t have to baby them when they grow up”? You can’t spoil a baby, There is nothing wrong with being attached and not letting your baby cry. these kids that are spoiled or can’t be cared for by other people have other issues going on… mainly their parents. I have coslept with both my children, nursed them thru the night, responded to their cries. They are both peacefully sleeping in their own beds in their own room. The oldest is 8. The youngest just moved at 17 months.
Brittany Hansen commented on May 18 12 at 5:34 pmI am trying to figure out the best nap schedule for my four month old son since he recently started cat napping (waking after 20 min of sleep) for all four naps. In #2 you mention wake/sleep windows for babies 4-6 mos old. Can you please email me with your source for this so I can read more about it please? I would really appreciate it!
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