Sleeping like a baby (Your Baby and Sleep in general)

Member Name: elbar1

Product:	Your Baby and Sleep in general
Date:	26/11/08 (146 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Happy sleep means happy babies

Disadvantages: Lack of sleep can really get new parents down

My first baby is now 8 weeks old and I am writing this in the middle of the difficult time. Perhaps some might think I do not have enough experience to write a review but I think it is important to write it now while it is fresh in my mind and I can be brutally honest.

We have been really lucky that our son slept for three hours at a time straight away. However, I found it very difficult to cope with the lack of sleep. I will list some of the problems we had and how we dealt with them. Hopefully it will help someone else.

1. Our son fell asleep on the breast and would wake as soon as we put him down in his own bed. Two things have really helped us. Firstly, I let him stay asleep on me for a good 10 minutes after he had dozed off to let him get into a deeper sleep. Secondly, we invested in a sleeping bag so that he stays in that while he feeds and therefore does not notice going back into a cold cot. A good tip is to buy two bags. We only had one and when he was sick on it in the middle of the night, all panic broke loose!

2. He wanted to suck continually and we lay next to the cot with our finger in his mouth. We didn't want to use a dummy because of breastfeeding so we waited until he was a month old. Then we gave in - the best decision we made. We only allow him to have it at night so he knows the difference between day and night. This also encouraged him to find his thumb during the day so he now can find it at night if his dummy falls out before he's asleep. Quite often now, at only 8 weeks, we will flip the dummy out as soon as we put it in and then start sucking on his thumb.

3. He needed to be cuddled to sleep. We let him cry for up to 20 minutes during the day, providing he was fed, changed and comfortable. He soon learnt to settle himself. It was easier to cope with the crying during the day because we could leave him in another room and do housework to distract ourselves. This is much easier than leaving him to cry while he's lying next to you during the night. Every night as soon as we put him to bed he will cry but within a maximum of 10 minutes he is asleep. Last night he cried when I put him down during the night and I was worried he would need to be cuddled but as soon as the lights were turned off, the cry became just a grizzle and within a few minutes he was quiet.

4. He continued to sleep for only 3 hours during the night week after week. Firstly, we started to keep him awake from 5pm to 7pm so that he was ready for a good sleep when we put him down. Also if you let them go a little longer than 3 hours from 7pm, as much as you might want to wake them up to feed them at 10pm so that you can go to sleep, they wake more refreshed so they feed better and for longer, which will fill them up and help them to sleep longer during the night.

Secondly, I drew up a table of 24 hours per day and religiously marked off when he slept and when he woke. This taught me a bit about his sleeping needs even though he did not seem to follow a pattern Once I knew how many feeds he needed, how many hours sleep and roughly at what part of the day, I was able to wake him for a feed at given times. After only a week of doing this, he is now sleeping for 5 hours and then 4 hours during the night. We haven't been strict about a regime and my table still looks all over the place but it has meant we can both get a better night's sleep. It also means I have a better idea of his needs so we don't end up having a tantrum when I am out with him and cannot feed him.

I am writing this after only two nights of longer sleep and already I feel like a new woman! I hope if you are having similar problems you can apply some of these suggestions and they are able to work for you too.

Summary: Whatever sleep patterns a baby follows, they are absolutely worth it!