The Four Month Sleep Regression
As a professional sleep consultant, I hear the term “regression” used in regards to just about every imaginable circumstance.
Essentially, if your baby doesn’t sleep well for a couple of nights, parents start dropping the ‘R’ word.
Some people subscribe to the idea that there’s an eight month regression, a 9 month regression, a 1 year regression, as well as teething regressions, growth spurt regressions, and so on.
Tips For Extending Your Baby’s Nap Time
Tell me if this scenario sounds familiar…
Your baby wakes up in the morning after a solid night’s sleep. You feed her, change her, play with her for a little bit, take her for a little walk outside, then rock her to sleep and put her gently into her crib for her morning nap.
And then, 30 minutes later, she wakes up fussy and irritable and, despite your pleading, bargaining, and offers of riches, refuses to go back to sleep.
Is This the Right Time to Sleep Train?
There are two things I can pretty much guarantee you when it comes to teaching your baby to sleep through the night.
I’ve never worked with a family whose baby went right down on the first night and just magically slept through from then on. Some have slept through the night on night two, most of them start seeing results on night three or four, but I won’t kid you, night one can be a trial.
The Benefits of Sleep
Sleep has always been, and will likely continue to be, a bit of a mystery.
From an evolutionary standpoint, it seems like something that we should have abandoned a few hundred thousand years ago.
The fact that we fall into a near unconscious state for a third of our day, every day, leaving us vulnerable to whatever horrifying dangers we faced in the early days of civilization, makes me wonder how we ever made it this far as a species. Read more
On the 25th March 2018, clocks spring forward an hour which means it’s the start of Daylight Savings Time, which also means one hour less sleep for you (boo!) I think daylight savings wreaks havoc on our sleep schedules and can increase sleep debt in both children and adults. It can be kind of like the baby has jet lag. They may be harder to put down at bedtime or awake when they’re not supposed to be. We are already a sleep-deprived nation, so losing that extra hour only makes it worse (and more dangerous). Having a fussy infant on your hands is never any fun, but thankfully there are a few tricks to helping your little one adjust to the time change.
Most parents coping with young kids and sleep issues are desperate for any solution to their nightly trials, and there are countless tinctures, sprays and salves that promise to soothe your child into a peaceful slumber.
To me, this is not unlike to the staggering number of natural weight-loss products on the market: there is no shortage of companies trying to make big bucks selling quick fixes. But do they really work? Read more
This week’s question comes from Tracey and she writes:“What is a normal amount of time to have a baby awake during the day so that they sleep better at night? My baby is two months old.”
Thanks Tracey! It’s a common misconception really, that if you keep the baby awake longer throughout the day, they’ll sleep better at night; the exact opposite is true. Read more
This weeks question comes from Victoria:
At what age should I stop swaddling my baby? It is the only way she will fall asleep and stay asleep.
That is a great question Victoria and it can be a tricky one because I recommend that people swaddle newborns. I think its a great tool.
Today, our question comes from Crysta, and she writes, “Is it better to take the dummy (pacifier) away first, and then try to keep my son in his own bed? Or is it better to get him sleeping in his own bed, and then take the pacifier away?”
I love this question, Crysta. It’s one I get asked often, and it has to do with props. Many children have more than one sleep prop.
Today I want to talk a little bit about getting your baby to sleep somewhere other than their cot. I get emails from parents a lot of times saying, My baby sleeps so well on The Sleep Sense Program. She takes great naps in her cot, but she really wont sleep anywhere else. Read more
Certified Sleep Consultant in tunbridge wells, maidstone, west malling, kings hill, tunbridge wells, London, uk.