While adults sleep for approximately 90 minutes at a time, a newborn baby’s sleep cycle is only 45 minutes. That probably explains why most moms feel as if they have had five minutes to catch up on housework, food and sleep before their baby is awake and ready to start the eat, play, sleep cycle again.
Where problems arise
At the end of each sleep cycle, a baby is in a very light sleep state and may even momentarily wake up before entering into a new cycle. This light sleep is where most of the problems arise.
Falling asleep and waking up in the same place
In order to encourage a longer nap you need to first ask yourself an important question: Did my baby fall asleep in the same place she ended up?
Most of the time the answer to this question is “no”. She fell asleep in my arms, and then I moved her to the crib.
The tricky thing about this, is that people don’t usually like to wake up somewhere different from the place they fell asleep. On some level our bodies know or sense the difference, therefore we wake up somewhat startled, and this is often why babies awake suddenly.
Follow these tips
Here are a few tips to encourage your baby to sleep longer:
- Make sure that your baby is in the same place when she falls asleep as she is when she wakes up. This will help prevent her startle reflex, and ease the transition from one sleep cycle to the next.
- Let your baby do most of the work of falling asleep on her own. If you always feed her to sleep, then again, you can see why she may not like it when she gets to the end of the sleep cycle and there is no bottle or breast nearby. This will also cause a baby to wake up startled and then start crying.
- Play around with your baby’s awake time. Every baby has a window of opportunity for successful sleep. This means it’s a time when your child is already tired enough to be put down, but not overtired. Don’t forget that it is possible to put a baby down too early, which will mean that they won’t take a proper nap.
If you have taken steps to encourage your baby to self soothe, and she is falling asleep in her crib, then congratulations because most of the battle has already been won.
The good news is that with time and practice, he will have a much easier time getting from one sleep cycle to the next, and should start to sleep longer and longer with each nap over the course of two to three weeks.
About the Author: Good Night is a Sleep Consultancy specialises in helping parents with children who struggle to sleep soundly. For more information, visit www.goodnightbaby.co.za
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