Newborn Sleep Problems – What People Can Do About Them
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First-time parents often run across newborn sleep problems the day they take their bundles of joy home. Couples say a temporary goodbye to a good night’s sleep during this period of adjustment. But don’t lose hope. Sleepless nights aren’t totally unheard of for majority of new parents. It IS possible to address newborn sleep problems.
Newborns often sleep 16-hour days. But this sleep time is usually done in one- or two-hour stretches at a time. As the nervous system of babies matures, more consistent sleep patterns emerge and they can go much longer in between feedings.
Making Sense Of Newborn Sleep Problems
When it comes to eliminating newborn sleep problems and establishing sleeping routines, flexibility is key. For at least the first six months, babies require parental attention during the night for feedings and getting settled.
Newborn sleep routines can be as diverse as they are for parents and babies. What approaches parents take will largely depend on the particular sleep choices they make – like where the baby will sleep (in the parents’ bed, a bed in their room or in the baby’s own bed).
Whatever parents decide, the baby’s homecoming isn’t the time for setting up rigid plans. During the first few months of a baby’s life, it’s often smartest to go slowly – get familiar with each other and work out what is best for you and the baby in terms of anticipating and resolving newborn sleep problems.
Below are some possible newborn sleep problems causes and ways to deal with them.
* Is the baby hungry or wet? Newborn sleep problems are often just a simple case of babies needing feeding or changing. Try and find out if the baby is too hot or too cold and if the environment is too noisy or too quiet. These are other possible causes of restlessness. * Some newborn sleep problems are rooted in the parents. Babies used to being cuddled in mom’s arms that suddenly find themselves alone in a crib usually develop newborn sleep problems. Slowly introducing some new bedtime routines will take care of this problem. * If using pacifiers or being rocked to sleep is part of what a newborn associates with bedtime, parents need to bring in something new to the sleeping game. Introduce an object that doesn’t require the parents’ presence like special pillows, toys, music or blankets will do.
Checking these three things will help determine the source of common newborn sleep problems. It’s not possible to alleviate newborn sleep problems overnight. Plus, parents need to ensure that there are no medical problems involved and they need to be consistent with the way they handle such newborn sleep problems.
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