The Baby Sleeps Tonight: Your Infant Sleeping Through the Night by 9 Weeks (Yes, Really!)
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By Jamell Williams
Every baby is different, so it’s only natural for some to
have a more difficult time with nighttime sleep than others. Some babies take
to it very well and at a very young age are able to sleep through the night
with only the occasional wakeup. Others, however, require a lot of patience and
guidance in order to get to point where they can sleep all night. But in every
case, there are things parents can do to make things easier for the baby as well
as for themselves.
If your baby has trouble sleeping through the night and you
are ready to move to the next stage, here are a few tips that may help.
Have a routine: To ease your little one into sleep,
establish a nighttime routine that you follow without exception. This might
include a bath, reading time, and the last feeding of the day. Do whatever
works best for your family. Just make it consistent, and make sure it differs
from other routines you have through the day.
Discourage nighttime feeding: Very early on, it is perfectly
natural for an infant to require several feedings during the night, and this
can continue for many months if it is not too much trouble for the parents. But
if are ready for better nighttime sleep and your child is old enough, you can
begin phasing out these feedings. Keep track of how much your baby eats and how
much she requires, and make sure she gets enough during the daytime hours while
gradually lessening the nighttime feedings.
Position the baby well: To minimize the risk of SIDS, most
medical authorities recommend placing the baby on her back at bedtime for the
first nine months of life (some recommend longer), and this advice is worth
heeding. But when the baby gets old enough to move around at will, there is
little you can do to control her position. The good news is that she will
naturally find the position in which she is most comfortable and in which she
will sleep best. So when your baby is old enough, give her the freedom to find
her preferred positions.
Try different outfits: If your baby seems to wake up a lot,
this could be a sign of discomfort resulting from his sleep outfit. Try
different things, and make sure you experiment with each item enough nights to
draw a conclusion about whether your baby likes it or not.
Control room conditions: Also try different conditions in
the room where your baby sleeps. Perhaps he does well with a little bit of
noise, in which case you can use a fan or a radio to make some gentle white
noise. Also make sure you try different temperatures. Childcare experts
generally recommend dressing babies a little more warmly than you would dress
yourself, but this is not a blanket rule, and some babies tend to get hot in
normal room-temperature conditions.
Learn baby’s back-to-sleep habits: Watch your baby for
several nights to see how she typically reacts when waking up in the middle of
the night. If she wakes, fusses for a moment, and then goes back to sleep, make
sure you allow her to do this instead of interrupting her natural process. On
the other hand, if you can learn to recognize when she is unlikely to get
herself back to sleep, you can get to her early and minimize the amount of time
she is awake.
Jamell Williams writes on parenting
and natural health topics. She believes that though there are many theories
on colic, gripe water is the best solution.
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