728x90
my iParenting
From Our Sponsors
e-newsletters
Sign up to receive our free weekly e-newsletters

new terms of use
new privacy policy
award-winning products
The iParenting Media Awards program helps parents find the best products for their families.
Home › Articles › Sleep Issues › Fighting Sleep

Fighting Sleep

A Look at Why Babies and Toddlers Fight Sleep

By Renee Roberson

Pages:  1  2  3  4  

"I ask parents, what can you start doing less of to help your baby start doing more," Dr. Twomey says. "Both parents should be willing to give the baby the same message."

"Learning how to put yourself to sleep is a learned and acquired skill just like every other skill," Dr. Chen says. "You need to give your child the opportunity to learn how to do it. You can take a number of methods and make them work by being consistent."

For Gilroy, Calif., mom Dionne Obeso, it took a night of sheer exhaustion to realize that her 2-month-old son didn't need to be rocked to sleep before bedtime. "I used to rock my son every night," Obeso says. "It would take forever to get him to sleep, and forever again to get him back to sleep after he woke up to eat. One night I was so tired that I put him in the crib downstairs, shut the door to the bedroom, turned off the monitor and said an apology for being a bad mom. He went right to sleep. And slept all night."

Obeso's son is now 5 months old and still sleeping as well as he did the first night she put him to sleep awake. In fact, she says if he doesn't fall asleep right after being put in his crib, there's usually a problem.

Q. At what age should I start trying to get my baby on a routine schedule of naptimes during the day and bedtime?

"Scheduling should occur after 3 months," Dr. Chen says. "A lot of times it depends on how the child is fed, whether breastmilk or formula. Breastmilk digests quicker so the baby may be up more often than a baby who drinks formula. At about 3 to 4 months, the baby will start to have set periods of wakefulness and their circadian rhythms start to develop."

Dr. Twomey often reminds parents that sleep is notlike other developmental milestones, such as crawling or walking. She recommends starting a regular bedtime routine for infants, lasting no more than 30 minutes, around 10 weeks of age.


Pages:  1  2  3  4  

Want to see more?

Comments

There are no comments for this article yet.Be the first to add a comment.

Post As:
Enter your comment below:
Title
Comment Text
CAPTCHA
Please note that any comments submitted become the property of Disney Family / iParenting and can be edited and posted at our discrection.