Sleep Routines

I recommend two books that really helped me. While both have good points and both are a little strict at times, I read both and developed my own routin with my children and they both were sleeping through the night by 8 weeks and are happy and have great routines. The first is called Baby Wise. It is really strict (too strict in my opinion but has great ideas) and the second is called Healthy Sleep Habits, Healthy Child. Good luck!

I understand the need to have a regular sleeping patter before you go back to work. You need the sleep so you can be alert!

I put my son on a feeding schedule. What this does is helps their metabolizem (sp?) stabalize so that their tummys can go 8 hours without food at night. Here's how I did it. I would wake him up in the morning when I wanted him to regularly start his day. Say 7am, I would feed him (making sure he got a full feeding). If the baby snackes then they will want to eat in about 30min to an hour, that will not help his metabolizem. Then he would need to have an awake period of at least and hour. Then a nap. You want to feed him roughly every 2 1/2 to 3 hours from start time to start time. So then at 10am you would wake him again to feed him. After doing this schedule for a few days or a week this they will get used to it. If your baby wakes up early from his nap then see if you can settle him down or see if he can cry himself back to sleep. He may not be fully awake and fall back asleep will come in a few minutes. However he could be going through a growth spurt so if you sense this happening you can feed him early. You are the mom and can decided what best for your little one. People freak out about the feeding schedule saying it's to ridged but really it's parent led so if you want to feed your baby 30 min. the DO, you know best. But keeping the schedule as close as possible will help him start sleeping through the night! A Good sleep schedule is all about teaching their body to metabolize at the right time!

Sorry to talk your ear off, but this really worked for my son. I went back to work when he was 3 months and I was able to get a good nights sleep!

Before I went back to work I tried to get my son ,Dakota, now 11 on a good schedule. My doctor told me to not let him dose off after his five pm feeding, but to put him down a nine pm and see if that worked. It did sometimes, but Dakota has always had sleeping problems. I did not return to work after our daughter, Summer, was born. I used this trick with her and it worked much better. Hope this helps.

I agree with reading the book, "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Marc Weissbluth, M.D. We used it when we were trying to get our dd to sleep through the night and it had great ideas for developing routines for that (including working on our daily sleep routines).

I have heard nothing but negatives about "Baby Wise" (the guy who wrote it isn't a doctor, but is a total nut!!!), and what I read of it, I agreed...bad stuff!! Google Gary Ezzo (the author) and you'll find several things that are scary (look here: http://www.ezzo.info/biblio.htm for example!) about his stuff. in short (or long..), I vote stay far away from Baby (or any of the Wise) Wise books. FAR AWAY.

At 11 weeks, your baby might not be able to control her sleep yet...but if you make a routine that will work for you and just keep at it (like Anetta said), assuming it doesn't totally go against what your baby is telling you she needs, that could just work (with a lot of effort from you!).

Good luck! This parenting stuff is hard, I know! :)

I echo the negative on the Babywise books! Not good!

She is so little right now that she is still figuring out how everything works. The best advice I could give would be to help her feel as confidant as possible & that she can trust you to take care of her. This is best done by responding as soon as she cues that she needs something. The more she trusts you, the more she will relax & be able to focus on developing things like sleep regulation vs. spending all her time trying to signal to you that she isn't comfortable.

I highly recommend getting a sling. Not a front pack! They help babies to sleep better in general. And when you have to go back to work, I suggest finding a care giver that is willing to wear her in a sling as well. For more info on slings & other similar topics go to www.mothering.com.

Hope this helps!

A.

Hi J....
I have 4 children (all older now). Having that many children, being on a schedule was important for all of us. I woke my kids up in the morning after I got up and got myself ready, we ate together (even when they were just months old), we spent our quality time together with bathing, reading, etc. I nursed them around the same time each day and layed them down for their naps at the same time too. Of course there were days they fought it but after doing this over and over, it eventually developed into a schedule. I was lucky enough to be a stay-at-home mom but it can be done if you are working too. It's just a matter of finding the right schedule that works for you and your child will gradually fall into it too. It worked for all 4 of my kids. They all napped at the same time for the most part, which gave me some much needed rest too. Good luck to you and congratulations on becoming a new mommy.

A.

I would cut out the last evening nap. I think this will help tremendously :) Good luck.

Hi - I think that at 2 months old babies are still getting into the day/night sleeping habits so it may straighten itself out here pretty soon. I would suggest making sure that it is dark at those times during the night when she wakes up, nurse in a dark place, etc. so she knows it is night time and that means sleep time.
I would suggest buying two books, "Happy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" and "Happiest Baby on the Block". These were two good ones that I have used for ideas.
Also, if your child will be in daycare, I just want to warn you that sometimes it is hard to get them to nap. I have found that with my baby, who is now 11 months. Make sure the daycare people understand what you want them to do as well when they are putting your baby down for a nap. Try to stick to the same routine as at home as much as possible. Hope this helps!

Babies seem to have their own internal clock that dictates what they require. I do have some suggestions... and hopefully her care-giver can do this too.

try waking her up an hour earlier from each of her daytime naps. Just pick her up and change her clothes or something - take her out for a walk in the fresh air - something not startling but enough to get her going. Maybe wake her up early in the morning too. l

You may also find that her internal "clock" may change when you go to work too, since your routine of getting up in the morning getting ready for work is going to change too.. then having someone else take care of her while you are at work is going to affect her too. So you are smart to establish this routine now... but also realize that the new situation may be just enough to throw her "off" from that too.

You didn't mention where she would be going when you go to work. If it is to a caregiver's home.... does she have other small children that might make it difficult to go by your desired routine for her? Is she willing to do it? If she is in a daycare, it might be even more difficult. Talk to whoever is going to care for her so you can both be on the same page as to how her sleep schedule is.

What ever you decide to do, be sure you are consistant in doing it. So be sure it is something you can do and follow through with. I would suggest that you put her on a schedule, and keep to it. She may not like it at first but it does work. Be consistant! Nana I.