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 Jason and Anna Lagenbach check on their 10-week-old daughter, Jorie, who just woke up. Greg Ebersole / The Daily News
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Exhausted parents can do things to help babies sleep longer at night
Tuesday, February 12, 2008 5:31 AM PST
By Sue Abell
For The Daily News
Printable version
E-mail this articleDear Dr. Sue,
My husband and I are expecting our first baby. I have several friends who have babies who are terrible sleepers, and I'd like to avoid that, if possible! What can I do to end up with a good sleeper?
Dear Mom,
A good night's sleep is a worthy goal, but it is important to be clear about the age at which you expect your baby to be "a good sleeper."
If you plan to breastfeed (and I hope you do), you can expect to be feeding your new baby several times during the night for a number of weeks, and at least once during the night up to about four months of age. Beginning at four months, more and more babies are developmentally ready to have a long sleep during the night. You may or may not call this "sleeping through the night:" it will probably be a much shorter sleep than you were used to before children, but longer than you were used to with a newborn in the house!
There are certainly some things you can do to help your baby be the best sleeper he or she can be, as well as some things that you may hear suggested that are not helpful.
Helpful ideas
1. The MOST important thing is to teach your baby to fall asleep on her own. This is something you can work toward from an early age, simply by noticing when your baby is drowsy and trying to get her into her bassinet or crib before she falls asleep.
If you enjoy rocking or breastfeeding your baby to sleep, try to rock or breastfeed her almost to sleep. Note: if your baby is already used to being rocked into a deep sleep, she may wake up as soon as you lay her in her bed. If so, try to pat and soothe her in the crib without taking her out. If she wakes up all the way and gets frantic, take her out and start over, with the goal again being to put her down drowsy, but not yet asleep. This helps baby learn to fall deeply asleep on his or her own.
2. Introduce a soothing, calm bedtime routine starting at about four months of age. Start with a warm bath. Consider adding a massage (massage has been shown to increase the levels of the sleep hormone, melatonin). (1) Rock and breastfeed or read to your baby, watching for signs of sleepiness. Put him into his crib when you see those signs.
3. Spend as much time as possible cuddling your baby during the day. If you have a caregiver because you work outside the home, make sure that person is warm and nurturing and spends a lot of time holding your baby. (Trust me, he won't come to prefer her, he will just be more secure.)
4. Expose your baby to as much natural light in the early afternoon as possible (or ask your caregiver to do so). At least one study suggests that such exposure improves sleep. (2) More research is necessary, however, because it may be that the babies who were exposed to more light were also having more interesting days or outdoor time that tired them out, or there may be another reason they were better sleepers.
5. Plan to make your baby's daytime interesting, with lots of attention, games, music, and book reading. Definitely take him for walks: they will be good for both of you. Putting him into a stroller will work, but a sling or infant carrier that allows contact with your body while letting baby see where you're going is better. Evening should be a time to wind down. Even if you haven't seen your baby all day, don't use the evening hours for high-spirited tickling and loud play. (You can save those for your days off.)
6. Make night-time the opposite from daytime in every way. When you respond to your baby's cries, keep everything quiet and low key. Turn on minimal lighting. Don't change her diaper unless it's dirty. If your baby is gaining weight adequately and is full term, don't feed her. (Talk to your pediatrician if you're not sure about this.) Keep all night-time visits brief and boring, and, no matter how cute she is, resist the urge to play at this time. If she keeps crying, you can either return to soothe her every few minutes, gradually stretching out the time between visits, or sit by the crib and pat her. Avoid taking her out of the crib unless you feel that she's sick or hurting.
7. You might put a "transitional object" in the crib. In developmental terms, a transitional object is anything that can provide comfort in your absence. This could be a small toy or even a handkerchief with your scent on it (perfume or breast milk). Remember not to put anything into your baby's bed that he could get wrapped around his neck or push his face under-no pillows or scarves or receiving blankets.
8. Consider a calming noise in his bedroom. This could be a CD with bedtime music, a tape of your voice reading soothing bedtime stories, or a radio set to classical music or even quiet static.
9. Some experts believe that waking the baby up late at night for one last feeding before you go to sleep will help him sleep longer. Some babies just can't be woken up when they are in a deep sleep, and some experts don't feel that this helps, anyway. It's likely that it helps for some babies and not for others, so you could consider giving it a try, if you are still having trouble after following the guidelines above.
Things that will not help your baby sleep through the night:
1. If he or she gains a certain amount of weight (although if your baby is premature, development in sleep may lag behind full-term friends).
2. If you add solids to the diet. It has been shown repeatedly that starting cereal early will not help a baby sleep through the night. Your baby will do this when he is developmentally ready, assuming you set the stage for sleep as described above. Having said this, however, a baby who was previously sleeping great who begins to wake up several times each night may be telling you he is not getting enough to eat. Talk to your pediatrician about when to introduce solid foods.
3. If you decrease the time or number of his daytime naps, or put him to bed later at night. Our intuition leads us astray here, since a worn out baby does not equal a baby who will sleep better. Often the reverse is true, since an exhausted baby finds it difficult to wind down and relax.
Sources
1. Ferber, S. et al. Massage Therapy by Mothers Enhances the Adjustment of Circadian Rhythms to the Nocturnal Period in Full-Term Infants. The Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, Dec. 2002
2. Harrison, Y. The Relationship Between Daytime Exposure To Light and Night-Time Sleep in 6-12 week old Infants. J. Sleep Res. 2004 Dec; 13/4:345-52.
Hannah wrote on Feb 12, 2008 7:49 AM:
re Hannah wrote on Feb 12, 2008 8:53 AM:
Mom of 3 wrote on Feb 12, 2008 9:01 AM:
ap wrote on Feb 12, 2008 9:40 AM:
My 2 kids started out in a bassinet in my room until they slept "through the night" and that was about 2 mos for both. I nursed them also and did not need to add cereal. They were stomach sleepers! Sometimes you just have to try the stomach. "
Samuel wrote on Feb 12, 2008 7:55 PM:
Kat wrote on Feb 12, 2008 8:12 PM:
Samuel wrote on Feb 13, 2008 3:33 AM:
Carla wrote on Feb 13, 2008 3:39 AM:
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