Sleep, baby sleep
Babies can keep their parents on edge, especially when they have all forms of sleep disturbance. It gets worse when their sleeplessness is accompanied by crying, keeping parents awake for long hours. This can be nerve wracking; fortunately, there are possible solutions, although some may not be immediate.
The golden rule is to always keep your baby warm, comfortable, well fed and dry. Also take care of abdominal upset, especially gas in the stomach after meals. Your baby also needs affection, understanding, psychological satisfaction and social interaction. Do not wake him up unnecessarily, for this disturbs his sleep pattern. The best way to induce babies to sleep well is to be as natural with them as possible. Also remember that good sleep gives the baby the best option for optimum growth. However for sleep to be good, the wake up time must also be well utilized to give the baby the best. For a baby to sleep well, do not set a timetable for him/her. Let him sleep as much as he wants. You must also understand the different sleep patterns and the variations with age. This makes it easier to determine your child’s sleep requirement. Remember that children with sleep problems are chronically sleep deprived with adverse psychological consequences. Without good parenting one may induce this. Mental development may also be affected.
Sleep training babies
After doing all you can, some babies still have sleep disturbances of varying nature. With good techniques, babies can be trained on how to sleep. Different methods are suitable for different ages and for parental preference. Below are various methods used in sleep training babies.
The Ferber method
Baby has to learn to self sooth. This is good for four to six month old babies. Consistent bed time routine is followed. Baby is put to bed awake. He can fuss or cry for sometimes long periods, with occasional parental checks conducted. This is an efficient approach to sleep training. Many babies begin to respond after the first night. Many more follow suit a few days later. Parent intolerance does occur. The child may also vomit after a prolonged cry.
Elizabeth Panthley’s method
The method is flexible to your tastes and situation. Pantley recommends that you make a sleep log of your baby’s sleep/awake periods and when baby eats. The log will be taken every ten days throughout the process so you can observe what is working and what is not. Pantley is a big believer in a bedtime ritual and nap/bedtime schedule. However, this method is not hinged on a strict schedule: gentle, attachment parenting philosophies always apply.
It does not condemn any particular lifestyle choice – it merely suggests solutions for helping baby sleep. If you have put baby in the habit of nursing to sleep, the book does not merely tell you this is a bad habit and it needs to stop. It only suggests practical solutions, without patronizing or judging. There is such a wealth of knowledge in this book that can be tapped by anyone in any sleep predicament.
Weigh birth method
‘Healthy sleep habits happy child.’ This is a book (infant sleep bible) used by many parents. It explains the deep rooted cause of babies sleep problems and has a research-based approach on how to correct them. It helps parents learn how to sleep train babies as soon as they arrive home from hospital. Excess cry is occasionally part of the methods. The problem is that it sets new sleep rules.
Jill Spivack and Jennifer Waldburger method
‘Sleep easy solution.’ This method helps you discover how to induce your baby into learning how to sleep. Some babies however may still cry. It has sleep training programmes for babies. It helps parents to understand their raw emotions and how to deal with them. It has built in bullet proof sleep plans for babies and takes the middle ground between ‘No cry’ and ‘Cry it out’ strategy. It is a method real parents can understand and has compassionate approach with lots of holding and reassurance. It provides age specific tips on frequency and length of naps and provides ‘sleep nutrition.’ The only problem is that it involves frequent checking.
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