Understanding and Accepting Sleep Needs in Babies

Understanding and Accepting Sleep Needs in Babies. How knowing what your child's sleep needs are will help you be a better mom.

Whenever you read about how long your child should be sleeping, you will notice there is a range given. Night sleep should be 10-12 hours. Naps should be 1.5-2.5 hours long (unless it is a catnap, and then it may be only 30 minutes). Despite that range being given, moms tend to fixate on the larger number.

I often get concerned questions from moms because their child is "only" sleeping ten hours at night and they can't figure out how to get to that 12 hour mark. I always remind them, ten is in the normal range. Ten may be enough for your individual baby.

Of my four children, two have been low sleep needs and two have been high sleep needs. Understanding and accepting that there are different sleep needs is very freeing to you as a parent. Once you realize your child has low sleep needs and doesn't need as much sleep at night nor as long of naps in the day as a high sleep needs baby, you will be able to relax and just enjoy motherhood so much more.

Circadian Rhythm Explained and How It Impacts Sleep

Circadian Rhythm Explained and How It Impacts Sleep. How light impacts sleep.

When it comes to helping our children and ourselves get healthy sleep, there are several factors to consider and be mindful of. One such factor you will see me talk about often is the circadian rhythm.

The circadian rhythm is a sleep regulatory system. The circadian rhythm is an internal body clock. This is something within your body that helps impact your sleep patterns. Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child describes it as being something that switches on and off genes in response to light (see page 15). It is a molecular clock that is set by sunlight. The purpose of it is to ensure the body sleeps when it should and is awake when it should (along with other body factors. For the purpose of this post, we will focus on the impact it has on sleep). This sleep system is impacted genetically, so it is different from person to person (just like eye color). While it is genetic, it can be impacted by light, temperature, melatonin, and chemical reactions.

The Best Products to Help Your Baby Sleep

The Best Products to Help Your Baby Sleep. Get great naps and have baby sleep through the night.

Having the right tools can help you get a job done easier. This is as true with getting baby to sleep as it is to fix a flat tire. Obviously a baby is not a tire, so using the tools correctly won't guarantee all sleep goes perfectly. Baby is a human and might respond in unpredictable ways, but these products have proven over and over to be helpful to get baby to sleep.

If you want a chance to win ALL of these products in one prize pack, head right over to my Instagram to enter to win! This is an amazing prize pack. The ladies of the BFBN and I teamed up to bring you this amazing prize pack. Collectively, we decided what our favorite items were for helping baby get great sleep. Here they are. This post contains affiliate links.

On Becoming Babywise

We must start with the obvious--On Becoming Babywise! This is my favorite book to get baby sleeping well.

Muslin Swaddle Blankets

Muslin swaddle blankets are great for swaddling the younger babies. It can also be great for wrapping your baby up when you are out and about.

Swaddle Blanket

A swaddle blanket is a great way to help baby sleep well. I love swaddling babies. The Woombie is great because it is convertible and breathable. Read my post on Swaddling for more.

White Noise Machine

A white noise machine is invaluable for getting baby to be able to sleep without being interrupted by random noises. There are a lot of great white noise machines out there. The Homedics is one and the Dohm is another great one. Read all about sleep props here.

Travel Sound Machine

If a sound machine at homes makes sense, then so does one on the go. This can be helpful in the car seat or stroller.

Gripe Water

This is one of my favorite products to help baby sleep well. I used it with my last two babies and it made a world of difference for both of them. Read all about how to help a baby with gas pain here.

Gas Drops

Gas drops are just as helpful as gripe water to help baby sleep if your baby is gassy. Only two of my babies were gassy and needed this, but it was necessary for those two.

Car Seat Canopy

A car seat canopy is a great item to have to help baby sleep on the go. Babies sleep so much that there will be times your baby is out and about during nap time. This helps block out the physical stimulation to give baby a better chance at sleeping on the go. Add in the travel sound machine and you have a winner!

Pacifier

A pacifier can come in handy when you are trying to hold baby off for a feeding or get baby to sleep while out and about. Some people use pacifiers for sleep regularly. Read all about sleep props here.

Baby Sleepers

These are handy just in general but also helpful for sleep to keep baby cozy for sleeping. Read how I recommend to dress baby for sleep.

How to Get Your Baby to Nap

How to get your baby to take great naps. Tips for getting healthy sleep.

It can take a lot of work to get baby to take great naps. You ultimately want your baby to have most naps each day be 1.5-2.5 hours long. Some babies will easily fall into nice sleep patterns, but others take more troubleshooting and work. This post outlines the basics for getting your baby to be able to take great naps.

Keep Waketime Length Appropriate

If you want your baby to be able to fall asleep and stay asleep for a nap, you need to have waketime length appropriate. Waketime length is the amount of time your baby is awake from the time she wakes up to the time she goes down for the next nap. This time includes the amount of time spent to feed and diaper her. For help with this, see:

Watch for Sleepy Cues

When you are working on getting waketime length right, knowing sleep cues is invaluable. Watch for sleepy cues so you know when your baby needs to go down for a nap. This helps you time things correctly even when your baby needs to go down at a different time than usual (this can happen when baby is sick, having a growth spurt, etc.). See this post for help:

Nap Cues

Have a Sleep Routine

A sleep routine is something you do before each nap or bedtime to help set the stage for sleep. This triggers to your baby to know it is time for sleeping. The routine can be different for bedtime and naptime. For help finding the best routine for you, see:

Sample Nap Routines

Set Up the Sleep Environment

You want the place your baby sleeps to be conducive to a nap happening. You want it to be quiet (this is a great sound machine - affiliate). You want the lighting to be right for your baby. Some are okay with some light while others need it quite dark. You want your baby dressed comfortably. You want the room at the best temperature. See these posts for more:

Teach Baby To Sleep Unassisted

Sleep training is invaluable to getting your baby to the point of taking great naps. There are many sleep training methods out there and you can choose the method that works best for you and your baby. The goal is to have baby capable of falling asleep alone and unassisted. The method you use to achieve that goal is not important.

My Resources

Here are some resources I have to help with naps:

The Babywise Mom Nap Guide how to get baby to take naps

The Babywise Nap Guide is my newest eBook. It is full of every detail you need for setting up amazing naps for your baby.

This is my Book of Logs PDF. It is only $3, which is a major steal! This is invaluable to troubleshooting naps, night, and other problems you encounter with a baby. To read more about it, visit this blog post. To purchase, click the Add To Cart button below. You will then have an instant download. It is that simple. NOTE--if you are clicking and going to Pinterest, click the side of the button rather than the middle. The Pinterest "Pin Now" button is sometimes getting in the way.

This is a link to my comprehensive sleep page on this blog. This page lists every post you need to get your baby sleeping well. Read about the best products to get baby sleeping here.

The Best Baby Sleep Training Books to Get Baby Sleeping

The Best Baby Sleep Training Books to Get Baby Sleeping. Different sleep training methods to get baby to sleep through the night and take great naps.

You never really realize how much you love and need sleep until you are no longer in control of when you do and don't sleep. Sure, we all had late nights as teens and college kids. Sure, we had nights we couldn't sleep. Those do not prepare you for what it feels like to be completely and consistently sleep deprived. Add to that they knowledge you have of the importance of sleep on brain development, and getting baby to sleep becomes a desperate quest.

There are a lot of great resources out there to help you with sleep. Here are some of my favorite books for helping you to understand sleep and sleep train your baby. This post contains affiliate links.

Baby Sleep Training Books

On Becoming Babywise by Gary Ezzo and Robert Bucknam

This is of course my first recommendation for getting your baby to have great sleep habits. When I had my first two children, this was the only thing I had in my arsenal. While the book does not talk much at all about sleep training, it lays a great foundation for a great daily routine to allow for healthy sleep.

The Babywise Mom Nap Guide by Valerie Plowman

If I didn't think it was needed, I wouldn't have written it. My husband tells me I didn't talk this book up enough--that just isn't my style, though :). This book is very helpful for getting great naps. I often say to get the daytime figured out and the night will follow and fall into place. I don't know about you, but at night, I want baby back asleep as fast as possible. I don't want to analyze a sleep training process during the night. if I can get daytime perfected and have night then follow without work, I am all for it.

Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth

This is my favorite book for just overloading you on information on sleep. The importance of sleep, the mechanics of sleep, the cycles of sleep, the patterns of sleep...it is all there. He also talks about different methods to sleep train and solve sleep issues. I first read this when my third child was a baby and I have loved it ever since.

The Baby Whisperer by Tracy Hogg

This is a two-book recommendation. We have Secrets of the Baby Whisperer and The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems. These books are invaluable for you getting to know your child as an individual and accept those quirks. I read these during my pregnancy with my third child, and this is where I discovered the Four S's Sleep Training Technique. This is my hands down favorite way to do sleep training, so this book is a must-read in my opinion. No one likes having to do cry it out sleep training, so if you can make the Four S's work as a no-cry sleep solution, oh happy day.

The Wonder Weeks by Frans Plooij, Hetty van de Rijt, and Xaviera Plas

This book doesn't so much give sleep training help, but it is a must-own to have in your library when you are sleep training a baby. This book helps you know when there are developmental leaps. There are ages a baby just isn't going to sleep well. There are ages sleep regressions happen, no matter how great of a sleeper the baby is. Having this knowledge helps you approach sleep training the best way you can.

Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems by Richard Ferber

Of course everyone knows about the Ferber method of sleep training. This is not a book I read while I had babies, so I offer this up as a consideration for you because it is wildly popular and used by so many. I am all about knowledge and getting all you can, especially when it comes to sleep training a baby. What works for one will not work for another, so the more tools you have in your back pocket, the more likely you will reach baby sleep success.

Moms On Call by Laura Hunter and Jennifer Walker

This is a book I have not read at all. I have heard the ideas are very compatible with Babywise, but that it is much more hardcore than Babywise. From what I understand, it is more of a "do exactly this" book than a "figure out the best option for your individual baby" book. If that appeals to you, give this book a try.

The Contented Little Baby Book by Gina Ford

This is another one I have not read. I am adding it because it is a common book people turn to for sleep advice. If you have exhausted the books above, look into this one and see if it will offer you further insight.

Conclusion

Sleep training is not easy. Whether you are using a no-cry sleep training method, extinction sleep training, or some hybrid, it is a hard road. These books can help you get through. They have worked for thousands of parents and babies. These sleep training books can work for you.