We are teaching our babies right from our very first experiences of handling them how to settle themselves into their baby sleeping habits.

For instance if we breastfeed our babies and they fall off to sleep in our arms then that is how they learn to go to sleep. If this is repeated often enough with the same result then our expectation becomes that our baby sleeping habits are tied into our breastfeeding. This also becomes the expectation, or habit of the baby - they need to be breast fed to go to sleep.

So it stands to reason that if we rock them in their crib, push them in their pram or swaddle and rock them in our arms to get them to sleep, then we are setting our baby sleeping habits in place.

Here's another thought - if we feed them, change them, comfort them and then lay them in their crib for sleep, they experience the routine and expectation of this and learn how to settle themselves into sleep without the need for external associations with their sleep habits.

Baby Sleeping Habits -
Teaching Babies How to go to Sleep

Sometimes it is the parents who need to rethink the way they are setting up routines and habits for their babies. It's very difficult to change a patterned way of doing something if you believe that it works. This is very true of getting babies to sleep.

Often early patterns are continually reinforced by parents when new and easier ways of dealing with the same situation could be introduced.

Most parents have experienced sleep deprivation during the early weeks and this lack of sleep becomes a fearful idea for us. We are then motivated by this fear to keep up a routine that we believe works for our baby rather than understanding that we could set in motion a new and better habit of helping our babies to associate sleeping with drifting off by themselves. The earlier we adopt this approach, the better our baby sleeping habits become.

After about six months when solids are usually introduced, babies tend to sleep for longer periods. This is the time to introduce a clear, firm and consistent routine, with a solid bedtime ritual around bedtimes.

Talk to your baby and tell him/her what you expect from them.

"It's dark now and all the babies are sleeping. It's time to lie down in your cot and have a big sleep, all night".

Using a calm, clear tone of voice and following this with calm but firm action means that your baby knows what to expect from you, when to expect it, and how to respond in return.

A great deal about setting routines and schedules in place for your baby has to do with setting up your own expectations first.

I encourage you to become clear in your self about your own sleeping routines as you begin to teach your baby consistent sleep habits and they learn how to sleep all night.

Baby Sleeping Habits-
Maintain a Routine

Here is an excellent article about teaching baby sleeping habits.

IT isn't until you become a parent that you realise how much sleep you can function without.

Usually sleepless nights are a stage that passes after a while, but what if it carries on month after month? According to sleep experts Deborah Sugden and Maggie Davies, it is more of a common problem than you might think.

Having worked with parents and children for more than 30 years in the NHS, the pair have come across many cases of sleep problems, inspiring them to set up Sleepy-Tots, the first private sleep clinic outside of London.

Based at Holmedale Health, in Demark Road, Exeter, the clinic specialises in children's sleep difficulties from three months old up to five. It deals with everything from difficulties getting children to sleep to toddlers repeatedly sleeping in their parents' bed.

Deborah, 51, said: "One of the key things to understand is there is no such thing as a good night's sleep. We all wake up but what we learn to do is settle ourselves back to sleep. Read more>>>>

www.thisisexeter.co.uk
Saturday, January 24, 2009, 07:00