After 9 months in a perfectly regulated environment – the womb – it becomes one of your baby’s first tasks to regulate his body temperature. It takes a while for this ability to develop and intermittently you may find that your baby is too hot or has freezing hands. Because of this, many parents fall […]
Why is it that just when your baby is able to start sleeping through the night, and may in fact, already have started doing so, that teeth decide to make an appearance! Ann Richardson looks at the effects of teething on sleep. Teething, per se, does not cause a sleeping disorder. Rather accept that when your child […]
In recent years research has indicated that babies who sleep on their tummies are more susceptible to cot death or Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). For this reason you have probably heard, you should put your baby on its back or side to sleep. Unfortunately many babies do not sleep as well on their backs […]
Non nutritive sucking (ie. Sucking without feeding) really helps to calm young babies. Some babies learn to suck on their own hands from a very early age, others prefer to suck a dummy. Both are excellent soothers for young babies. Do not stop your baby from sucking but guide your baby into a method you […]
Create a sleep zone and stick to it. This may be in her own room, or in your room. It doesn’t matter where it is, as long as it is a ‘zone’ where sleep happens – she will learn to recognize it as such. At sleep time, put your baby to bed. Try to avoid […]
If you have ever been delayed in transit due to inclement weather and had to sleep in the airport, you will agree that it was not the best night sleep you have ever had! The hard floor, bright lights, sterile smells and jarring sounds of the environment are not conducive to peaceful sleep. You may […]
“People who say they sleep like a baby usually don’t have one” Leo J Burke Ask any sleep deprived mother and she will attest to the fact that her ability to function and parent well is hindered by lack of sleep. We crave the energising and renewing feeling sleep gives us and yet for many, sleep […]
Remember back to the days of waking when, well – whenever you woke? These days long gone, as parents we face early morning wakings as a matter of routine. When your baby wakes at 6am, you reluctantly get out of bed and greet the day. But when your baby thinks the day starts at 4 […]
Sleep is most parents’ first separation from their baby. And for many this elicits anxiety. I am sure the scene of a mother crouching over her sleeping baby to hear if he is breathing is familiar to most parents. We do this because of the terrible scare of cot death. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) […]
Guidelines for different sleep routines at different ages. Every mom and baby is different and a routine that proposes to be a one fits all is not realistic. Here are guidelines for different routines at different ages: Routines for newborns Your newborn is too little to have a fixed routine and routines at this age […]