Sleep Patterns

Sleeping through the night as a parent? Forget it. During the first few months, a baby needs to feed during the middle of the night. It's not until about month 3 that a baby begins to be able to go through the night without eating. At this time, parents might get up to 5 to 6 uninterrupted hours of sleep at night. By month 5, most babies are sleeping through the night. How you get to this blessed point is often trial and error. People range from letting their baby cry all night long to having a family bed. Here are some things you might consider when you're trying to get your baby to sleep:

  • Due to the human sleep cycle, all babies will come out of their deep sleep every 4 hours or so.
  • Whatever you do to get the baby to sleep at the start of the night, you better be prepared to do the same thing later in the night when he/she wakes up again.
  • Keep sleep routines regular and simple. Remember if your baby needs a hundred things to settle (rocking, singing, walking, mood music, mood lighting, etc.) their going to want the same song and dance later.
  • Helping a baby learn to calm down and settle by themselves can be an important lesson.

Sleep Safety: Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) Also known as Crib Death

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome is defined as the sudden death of an infant under one year of age that remains unexplained after the performance of a complete postmortem investigation, including an autopsy, an examination of the scene of death, and a review of the case history. The cause of SIDS is presently unknown. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Task Force on Infant Positioning and SIDS has developed new recommendations for the positioning of infants. Check their site out at:

http://www.aap.org/new/sids/question.htm

SIDS facts:

  • The AAP recommends placing infants on their backs to sleep. (Placing them on their side is also accepted.)
  • Approximately 1 out of every 5000 US babies between the ages of two and six months dies from SIDS.
  • 95% of all SIDS deaths occur before the age of six months.
  • Each year in the US about 7000 babies dies from SIDS.
  • SIDS is the leading cause of death in children less than a year old.
  • SIDS is not caused by suffocation under blankets, immunizations, or choking.
  • SIDS is not caused by allowing your baby to sleep with you.
  • Some babies need to sleep on their tummies for medical reasons, check with your physician to see if your baby should be sleeping on his/her tummy.