Tis’ the season of family gatherings, parties, fun traditions, and more. It really is my favorite time of year. For some parents, it’s an extremely stressful time especially if you’re balancing all of the holiday fun while running on empty. Let’s talk about the holidays and your child’s sleep. If your kiddo is not a great sleeper, I can help. If you’ve got the sleep thing down, I’ll share tips on keeping it intact while during this season of joy.
When bed sharing, babies often depend on feeding and close contact with a parent to fall asleep. This dependence usually extends to night wakings, where they need the same conditions to fall back asleep. Asking your baby to self-soothe and sleep independently while the things they rely on, such as nursing or physical contact, are right there but unavailable can be very confusing and counterproductive.
The four-month sleep regression is, by far, the most well know regression of them all. As a certified sleep consultant, it is the number one reason parents of babies reach to me. Their baby, who once fell asleep relatively easily now take over an hour to go to sleep at bedtime. Or, baby is awake every 1-2 hours all night long and take short 30 minute naps. Learn why the regression is actually a progression along with tips to get through it.
As a certified pediatric sleep consultant, I spend a lot of time talking to parents about when and how to transition a nap schedule. For the most part, it comes down to knowing how long your baby should be awake. Once you know that information, you can get a better understanding of how many naps a day your baby will take.
