Kids & Company Blog

Getting Through the Night!

Back to the topic of sleep! Such an important part of each child's day.

As I read through Wholeplay's messaging I realized that only two of my babies really slept well. Initially, I was much more involved with these two with respect to their feeding and sleeping patterns. As my life became more and more hectic it became easier to just pick up my babies and nurse them when they were crying as oppose to remaining patient and listening to them cry.

Now as I reflect back, I wish I had tried harder from the start with each baby and helped them to self soothe. Had I done this, I'm sure I would have been able to avoid several of those long and exhausting nights with the babies!  Maybe then  those last 12 years would have been less of a blur for me... :)

 

Here are some more great  sleep tips from our friends at Wholeplay...

 

What about older children?

As soon as babies can roll over on their own, it is acceptable for them to sleep on their stomach and/or side, as parents no longer have control over the positioning of their infants throughout the night. A sleep sack, as opposed to a blanket or swaddle, allows for rolling and can assuage parents’ fears that their baby could become tangled in blankets once she becomes more mobile.

When babies start trying to pull themselves up in their cribs, it is time to lower the mattress to avoid having them flip out of the crib. When babies start trying to climb out of the crib, it is time to consider transitioning them to a toddler bed.

 

Ages & Stages: What does healthy sleep look like?

In addition to establishing safe sleeping arrangements for your child, it is important to become acquainted with how much sleep your child should be getting according to his/her stage of development. See below:

• 1-2 months - The sleep pattern of a newborn is extremely irregular. Most babies of this age sleep during the day and at night, totaling 10.5 - 18 hours in a 24-hour cycle. Most babies are not awake for more than 3 hours at a time.

• 3-6 months- Sleep patterns become more regular, with more sleep occurring during the night than during the daytime. Babies still typically wake 2-3 times a night to feed and have 3 naps during the day, which occur in the morning, around noon and late afternoon. Sleep totals around 14-16 hours/day.

• 6-12 months- Babies can go for longer periods without needing to eat which means they may begin to sleep through the night. However, not all babies will dothis by themselves and often require a bit of more formal “sleep training” to accomplish this. Many babies will still wake 1 – 2 times per night. The late afternoon nap disappears during this period of development. Sleep totals around 14 hours/day.

• 12 months – 18 months- Toddlers should be able to sleep through the night without waking. The morning nap will start to disappear. Sleep should consolidate so that toddlers only have one, longer nap in the afternoon. Sleep totals around 12-14 hours/day.

• 18 months to 3 years- Toddlers continue to have one afternoon nap per day and sleep 12-14 hours/day.

• 3-5 years- 11-13 hours/night. No naps after age 5.

• 5-12 years- 10-11 hours/night.

Posted on: Friday January 17th, 2014

Posted by: Victoria Sopik