From the very beginning…
« Naps
Review: “No Cry Sleep Solution”
Here is my review and notes from reading the No-Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley. I’ll give a status update later to see if it really worked with Ian or not.
So I said I would give a review of this book once I was done with it. Well, I never finished it, but I thought I would still let people know what I thought. Overall, I enjoyed this book. The first half gave a lot of useful information and I think that was why I never finished the book. I started incorporating a lot of the things Pantley was suggesting and it seemed to work. It’s been four months and Ian is finally sleeping though the night – only getting up once around 2am – 3am. Ian and I did things the simple way. We started giving him the same routine every night between 7:30pm and 8pm. First we gave him a bath, then we changed into his pajamas, and then he received a bottle. I know it’s not the biggest routine, but we started this when he was barely 2 months old and he really wouldn’t stay still long enough to include reading or singing or whatever. Either way, after a couple of weeks, Ian started getting really fussy if he didn’t have his bath by 8pm and then it became even more obvious that he was waiting for it when he wouldn’t go to bed until he had his bath. Now once he gets his bottle after his bath, Ian starts to get sleepy and is usually out before the end of the bottle. So while I never did try the “no cry sleep solution”, I did do a lot of the other suggestions in the first part of the book and it really helped. I’m not saying it would work for everybody, but I would definitely recommend giving it a try.
NOTES:
Basic Sleep Facts
The Consumer Product Safety Commission advises against sleeping with a child under two years. This warning is controversial and many experts believe the issue demands more research. However, the majority of parents do chose to share some sleep time with their children. Some basic safety precautions to co-sleeping are:
The reason a baby sleeps like a baby is for two reason: Development & Survival
Newborns
A newborn is generally thought to be 0-6 weeks old. When the baby is asleep, put him in his bed; for infants that co-sleep, it is important that they sleep alone sometimes.
While feeding, let your newborn suck until he is sleepy, but not asleep. Sucking on his fingers helps him learn to control his hands, so this is not a bad thing.
Babies make a lot of sleeping sounds, which do not always indicate that they are waking up. Make sure you listen to the sounds they are making. If they are making sleeping noises (grunts, whimpers, and sometimes small crys), let them sleep. If they are making waking noises, tend to them quickly.
Daytime naps should be in a lit room where he can hear the noises of the day (perhaps in the main area of the house). Nighttime sleeping should be in a dark and quiet room. Use white noise to cover family sounds after baby goes to sleep at night. Naps should not be longer than 2-3 hours.
Nightly baths and a change into pajamas can signal nighttime sleep.
Do not use any lights during the night, for either feeding or changing. If you need a light, use a very soft, tiny night light.
Try putting him in his bed when he is sleepy, but not sleeping.
Some basic tips for waking a sleeping baby: try waking during a lighter sleep stage; a diaper change; wipe his face with a damp cloth; unwrap or undress him to his diaper; burp him in a sitting position; give a back rub; wiggle/move his toes, arms, legs in a gentle exercise pattern; move him into the main family area where there is activity; hold him upright and sing to him.
Most newborns can only handle about 2-3 hours of being awake. Any longer and he can become overstimulated and have a harder time falling back to sleep.
Some basic cues for when a baby is overtired (fatigue): a lull in movement/activity; quieting down; losing interest in people and toys; looking ‘glazed’; fussing; rubbing eyes; yawning; rubbing eyes; lying down; caressing a lovey/binkie.
Don’t swaddle him in a warm room. This can make him overheated. Overheating an infant is a risk of SIDS. If you let your baby sleep in a car seat, do not let him slump over with his head down. This could lead to breathing problems later on.
Cold sheets are BAD…this can jar awake the baby.
Make sure that the last feeding before bedtime is a complete one. The more full his stomach is, the less likely he is to want to wake up during the night for more food.
Older Babies
Make sure he is eating enough food during the day and that he isn’t getting the majority of his calories at night.
If he is fussy or tired, skip the routine and put him in his bed asap. If he is already asleep, he won’t realize that he hasn’t gone through his routine. However; delaying the routine by any amount of time can be very destructive to his sleep schedule.
If he is going to bed too late, you can adjust his biological clock by either: (1) adjusting his bedtime schedule earlier by 15-20 minutes every 2-3 nights or (2) starting at 6:30pm, watch him closely for signs of being tired, once he starts showing signs, put him to bed regardless of the time.
Waking him up at the same time every morning will help set his biological clock.
Naps less than 1 hour can be detrimental to his sleep schedule. Naps need to happen as soon as he starts to show signs of being tired. The average of number of and lengths of naps for each child is different and a chart can be found on page 110. Once a nap schedule is established, set a nap routine that is separate from his bedtime routine. For hints to get a short napper to sleep longer, see page 112.
If there is a frequent night waking problem, do everything possible to have him nap during the day.
Learning to Fall Asleep
Spend time in baby’s sleeping place during the day to teach him that the bed is safe and comfortable. If he responds positively, get him to watch a mobile or play with a toy and then slowly fade back and keep watch over him.
You can signal sleep time by saying certain words in a certain way – i.e. “shhh, shhh, it’s sleepy time. An alternative is to hum a relaxing melody quietly. Do not use your key words when he is crying or unhappy. Otherwise, he will associate the words with the fussiness.