BABY SLEEP

by Andreea Lofgren

Sleeping is one of the priorities of new parents. How much should the baby sleep? How often are they wakening up during night?

In my opinion the key night time sleep is the daytime sleep and absolutely vital for both, is the darkness. To teach your baby the difference between the time asleep and time awake is to make sure from his early days that he is put to sleep in a dark room for all his naps. The substance that stimulates sleep is called melatonin and is produced by the pineal gland. This hormone is stimulated by darkness and prepares the body for sleep.

After 45 minutes, all babies come into a light sleep, so even the smallest amount of light can affect their sleep.

Here are the most common reasons why babies don’t sleep:

- hunger

- not feeding enough (in early days a baby may need 25 minutes at each breast for a normal feed)

- sleeping too much during day

- not sleeping enough during day that will make them overtired

- overstimulation – they need downtime before sleep

- waking themselves up (babies up to six week have a strong Moro reflex, so you should tuck them in firmly when putting them to sleep)

- getting cold

- wrong sleep associations

- outside disturbance