by Jenny Proctor

Created on: June 30, 2007

One of the most popular questions that I get about my new baby is "How is he sleeping?" I think the reason people like to ask is because babies are so frequently terrible at sleeping. Parents struggle with nap time, bedtime, nighttime wakings three or four times a night, and other countless problems that seem to keep little ones from getting any decent rest. Well, with this baby, I've loved giving the answer... my baby is sleeping wonderfully. At nine weeks old, he is taking long and restful naps during the day, and is sleeping nine hours without waking up at night. Did I just get lucky? I would say there is probably a little bit of mercy involved (with a 6 year old and 3 year old twins at home, the Good Lord knew I needed an easy baby!), but there is also a principle that I have learned along the way that I know contributes to happy babies with healthy sleep habits. It's simple really, but when implemented early on, it can lead to the establishment of healthy patterns that will influence baby's sleep for good from the very beginning. The secret lies in the order that you do things with your baby. The goal is to feed baby right after a nap, and then keep baby awake after feeding time, for a few minutes of awake time. After a period of wake time (duration depending on the age of your baby) put your baby down for a nap. After the nap, it will be time for baby to eat again. If you follow this cycle of eat, activity, then sleep, your baby will not only learn to fall asleep on its own, it will also have healthier eating habits because it will eat when it is awake and ready to take a full feeding. The danger in nursing a baby to sleep, or in giving a bottle to help soothe a baby to sleep is that baby may only eat enough to satisfy hunger temporarily, falling asleep before a full meal is eaten. Twenty minutes later, baby awakes from a peaceful sleep, hungry and wanting to eat again. Sleeping and eating get meshed in to one confusing activity. If the activities are kept seperate, baby will naturally develop healthy sleep patterns on its own. The key is a consistent routine. You stick with it, and baby will eventually follow suit. For the first few weeks it may seem that no matter how hard you try, baby doesn't want to wake up in between feedings. It's really okay... newborns are generally very sleepy. But create goals that you work toward. Baby will eventually wake up to the outside world and will enjoy the consistency of a good routine.

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