Baby Sleep - How Much Sleep Does my Baby Really Need?

Some babies are fantastic sleepers, going through the night from 6 weeks old and taking three perfect naps a day. But most babies ­ probably yours included - are not fantastic sleepers. There is no reason why they should be, of course. Many of the sleep "problems" with young babies are to do with parental expectations rather than with the baby behaving abnormally. But while you shouldn't have high hopes of your baby's sleep fitting in with yours in the early days, it is important to plan ahead. The habits that your baby is getting into by around the 6-month mark will condition her sleep habits for the months to come.

How much sleep does my baby really need?

Some experts will tell you that young babies need as many as 18 hours of sleep in every 24 hours. Others say that they can make do with as little as 12 hours a day. But how much your own baby needs is very individual and is determined by a whole range of factors including your expectations, her size and genes, what kind of person she is, and what's going on around her.

Monitoring her sleep

Some parents feel that they are being kept on the go all day by the demands of their baby. Apart from feeling worn out themselves, they feel that their baby can't possibly be getting enough sleep and rest either.

Your baby's little naps and snoozes during the day all add up to a substantial time spent asleep.

So if sleep is something that you're concerned about, for whatever reason, try keeping a sleep diary for a couple of days.

Note exactly when your baby sleeps and when she wakes. You'll almost certainly find that she sleeps for longer than you thought, especially if you're the kind of person who tends to use the hours when your child is asleep to do other tasks. Perhaps before she was born, you imagined that you'd be able to use your baby's sleep time to organize the house, but now that she's here it's a shock to find that you only just have time to pile washing into the machine and to wash the breakfast dishes while she's napping. No wonder it feels like she hardly sleeps at all!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Robin_Brain

How To Teach Your Baby Sleep Through The Night

Sleeplessness is one of the tough sides of parenthood, no matter how excited we are to be with our baby, we must have a good sleeping routine to bring a healthier environment for the whole family.

It is almost impossible to keep a newborn asleep through the night because of their need for food.

When you start waking up every hour or so, this starts affecting your normal functionality and disturbs your ability to go through the day time activities/work. This includes looking after your baby.

It is hard to change things

If after 4 months, your baby still wakes up every hour or so, it’s time to make an effort and try changing her sleeping routine.

How?

Start by showing your baby the difference between night and day. Light, noises, movements in the house, they all help with making the difference. You can start a little before bed routine of quiet cuddling, singing lullabies, telling stories.

Learn to respect your baby’s signs of tiredness and don’t delay the bed time.

If your baby shows sings of tiredness, like tired eyes, lack of interest in toys and playing, lack of interest in food, rubbing eyes, ducking into your chest or asking for a cuddle in any other way, use this moment.

You can try to change your baby’s nap routine. If she has 6 naps a day of 15 minutes each, it’s obviously that she will make an effort to stay asleep for longer at night time.

You can try to change her eating routine. If you feed her all through the day with short snacks, it’s likely that she will wake up more frequent at night, expecting to be fed. Try main meals a day is usually enough for a baby.
If your baby starts falling asleep sucking on a dummy or cuddling a comforter, don’t worry about it and let her go on with it. In time, she will start creating her own comforting environment that works for her and that is the best thing that could happen for both of you.

As babies grow, you will find that they can go back to sleep on their own, without a feed. You will certainly know when your baby is hungry or she just wakes up out of habit. Try and comfort your baby back to sleep without a feed when you sense it’s out of habit. In a few nights, hopefully it will start working and both of you will get longer hours.

In the case of over 12 months olds still being breastfed, still waking up through the night could be a sign of time to switch to the bottle. Don’t be afraid to switch to the bottle. If it improves your baby’s sleeping hours, it is worth trying.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lorena_Goldsmith