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The precious gift of sleep once baby is born OR Is sleep for a baby that important?
True or False?
My baby hasn't slept well during the day so he'll be exhausted by the end of the day and will sleep well at night.
False! If a baby is awake for longer than his age appropriate awake time he will become overstimulated and then go into hyperalert.
Below is a table of a baby's age appropriate awake time - the length of time he can happily stay awake.
| Age | Age appropriate awake time |
| Newborn to 2 months | 45 minutes to 1 hour |
| 2 months - 4 months | 1 hour to 1½ hours |
| 4 months - 6 months | 1½ hours up to 2 hours |
| 6 months - 9 months | 2 hours up to 2½ hours |
| 9 months - 12 months | 2½ hours up to 3 hours |
| 12 months - 18 months | 3 hours up to 3½ hours |
| 18 months - 24 months | 3½ hours up to 5 / 6 hours |
| Awake time includes feeding |
Below are signs of overstimulation and hyperalert.
Overstimulation
Initially your baby will be perfectly content, but in the blink of an eye he could become:
• fussy
• miserable
• pulls his ears
• rubs his eyes
• begins to squirm
• tenses up his body
• appears bored with his toy
If you don't react fast enough by putting him down to sleep, he will progress further into a state of hyperalert, where he will battle to fall asleep and battle to remain asleep, hence your baby will wake throughout the night.
Hyperalert
• stiffens his body
• arches his back
• clenches his fists
• cries inconsolably
OR
• behaves like the Duracell bunny on TV - hyper active and wired
Sleep deprivation
Sleep deprivation is a form of torture and affects the entire family. Depending on the severity, it can have numerous side affects.
Some side affects of a sleep deprived baby are:
• a clingy baby
• a fussy feeder
• a whiny, niggly baby
• a baby who cries easily
• a baby who isn't meeting his milestones
Some side affects of sleep deprived parents are:
• Constant fighting between parents
• Your sex life and social life is non existent
• The urge to want to physically harm your baby
• Feeling completely overwhelmed and out of control
• Unable to function at work and make the simplest of decisions
When a baby sleeps their body produces serotonin, a hormone that makes them physically grow, therefore it is critical that a baby gets the right amount of sleep, during the day and at night, according to his age.
Sleep induces sleep, so the better your baby sleeps during the day, the better he will sleep at night.
To rock or not to rock?
It's a personal decision, however rocking a newborn weighing 3.2kg's isn't a problem, but rocking that same baby when he is 9 months old weighing 12kg's isn't cute any more!
It is important that your baby knows how to fall asleep unassisted and how to put himself back to sleep. This is a life skill he will take through to adult hood, therefore avoid the Sleep Prop's - rocking, patting, driving around the block or giving the bottle or breast in order to get him to sleep. After all, is it fair on your baby if he is reliant on you in order to fall asleep?
Some of Baby Love's philosophies
• Always assess the cry
• Be guided by your baby's needs and not wants
• Baby should be part of the family and not the family
• Baby will guide the parents as much as parents need to guide their baby
Credit: Survival Guide
Published: Spring 2009
www.survivalguide.co.za
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