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Home › Articles › Sleep Issues › Nighty-Night?

Nighty-Night?

Better Rest for Mom and Baby

By Teri Brown

Pages:  1  2  3  4  

(Little, Brown, 2003), says there are a couple of different reasons moms and babies have trouble sleeping at night beyond a baby's own natural wake, eat and sleep rhythm. One of the main reasons is an upset tummy.

"Babies' tummies are pretty sensitive, and it doesn't take much to give them gas," says Dr. Sears. "Many breastfeeding moms will have to deal with a fussy baby after a spicy dinner or after eating the 'gassy' foods such as broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower. A quick fix for gas is the use of simethicone gas relief drops. Most parents find they work well while other moms try to figure out what foods to eliminate from her diet."

Sleeping arrangements can be another problem. Dr. Sears says if you are blessed with a frequent feeder, then it would be best to have Baby sleeping in the same room as you. "Walking down the hall to Baby's nursery for middle-of-the-night feeding every two hours will get very old, very quickly," says Dr. Sears. "Having the baby close by will help Mom finish a feeding and get back to sleep faster."

Dr. Sears gives the following tips to help Mom and Baby get a better night's sleep:

  • Develop a realistic attitude about nighttime parenting. Sleeping, like eating, is not a state you can force a baby into. The best you can do is create a secure environment that allows sleep to overtake your baby. A realistic long-term goal is to help your baby develop a healthy attitude about sleep: that sleep is a pleasant state to enter and a secure state to remain in. Many sleep problems in older children and adults stem from children growing up with an unhealthy attitude about sleep – that sleep was not a pleasant state to enter and was a fearful state to remain in. Just as daytime parenting is a long-term investment, so is nighttime parenting. Teach your babies a restful attitude about sleep when they are young and both you and your children will sleep better when they are older.

  • Stay flexible.
    Pages:  1  2  3  4  

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