Hi All. This is from a client who was very confused about normal infant
sleep patterns, and who is worried about allowing her baby to nurse at
night. Is this the current advice that is being given to new parents re:
infant sleep?
It reminds me of when I was a new mother, 20 years ago, and how confused
I was when the information I was being given did not fit my baby at all.
I ended up feeling very disstraught, and resentful about my baby getting
up, until I found LLL and realized that it was normal. Just curious if
others are hearing about these conflicts from their clients. I certainly
am.
Kathleen Bruce RN IBCLC
Kathleen Bruce RN IBCLC
Independent consultant: Breastfeeding Clinic of Vermont, Lactation
Resources of Vermont, Medela, Inc.
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http://www.babycenter.com/refcap/baby/babysleep/7656.html
"Establishing healthy sleep habits: 3 to 6 months
Approved by the BabyCenter Medical Advisory Board
By the BabyCenter editorial staff
. Typical sleep at this age
. How you can establish healthy sleep habits
. Potential pitfalls
. Related Links
Typical sleep at this age
Congratulations! By now your nights of getting up every two or three
hours are behind you - we hope. By 3 or 4 months, most babies are
sleeping 14 or 15 hours a day, 9 or 10 of those hours at night and the
rest divided among several daytime naps (that number will drop to two
sometime in your baby's first year). You may still be getting up at
night for feedings at the beginning of this stage, but by the time your
baby is 6 months old, he'll be physically capable of sleeping through
the night. Whether he actually will depends on whether he's learning
good sleep habits and patterns.
How you can establish healthy sleep habits
At this age, these are the best things you can do to make sure your
child is learning the right sleep habits:
Establish set bed- and naptimes - and stick to them.
When your baby was a newborn, deciding when to put him down for the
night was as easy as watching for his signs of sleepiness (eye-rubbing,
ear-pulling, and so on). Now that he's a little older, you should
establish a specific bedtime, as well as consistent naptimes, to
regulate his sleep patterns. A good baby bedtime is usually between 7
and 8:30 p.m. Any later and he's likely to be overtired and have a hard
time falling asleep. You can set naptimes the same way you set bedtimes
- plan them for a specific time each day - or put him down two hours
after he last woke up. As long as he's getting enough sleep, either
approach is fine.
Begin to develop a bedtime routine.
If you haven't already done so, now is also a good time to start a
bedtime routine. Your ritual can include any (or all) of the following:
giving your baby a bath, getting him changed for bed, reading a bedtime
story or two, singing a lullaby, and giving him a kiss goodnight.
Whatever bedtime routine works for your family is fine, as long as you
do it in the same order and at the same time every night. Babies thrive
on consistency.
Wake your child in the morning to set his daily clock.
It's fine to wake your baby in the morning if he's sleeping past his
usual wake time to help set his daily clock. Your baby needs to follow a
regular sleep / wake pattern and recharge with naps during the day.
Waking him at the same time every morning will help keep his naps on
target.
Potential pitfalls
Night waking and developing negative sleep associations - when your baby
learns to depend on something like rocking or nursing to fall asleep -
affect newborns and older babies alike. This is the age to start
encouraging your child to fall asleep independently. He needs to learn
to fall asleep by himself, so that when he naturally awakens during the
night (all babies wake 2 to 6 times per night) he can return to sleep on
his own without needing your assistance. If he's been soothed to sleep
by your arms, your breast, or a bottle, he'll need the same help several
times throughout the night. You can start by putting your baby to bed
drowsy but awake. You may be surprised how capable he is at putting
himself to sleep. If he doesn't fall asleep on his own, you can consider
using some form of the "cry-it-out" approach. Of course, what will work
best for you depends on your personal beliefs and sleep philosophy.
If your baby is having a hard time getting to sleep at night or staying
asleep, he may be overtired. Make sure he's not staying up too late (as
we mentioned, an overtired baby can make for a difficult bedtime). The
same holds true for naptimes. If you wait too long to put your baby down
for a nap, he can have a harder time drifting off to slumberland. "
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