Establishing good sleep habits from the beginning?

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Forum -> Parenting our children -> Infants

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amother

Jade

Wed, May 24 2017, 5:46 pm

My baby is 10 days old, and while I know its still really early to be worrying about these things, I really want to establish good sleeping habits.
this is my 3rd, so while in theory I have experience, I somehow forgot everything and feel like I dont know what im doing....

all the books say to put the baby down while baby is awake but drowsy- how??!
once I swaddle her up, and holding her, she falls asleep!

also to put them to sleep always in a crib/bassinet- but my baby seems to be really enjoying her swing during the day!

this post may seem like im rambling bc my brain is so foggy, but all these little things are making me nervous bc I desperately want her to be a good sleeper eventually.

amother

Periwinkle

Wed, May 24 2017, 5:54 pm

a wise woman once told me 'the baby didn't read the book'.

amother

Seafoam

Wed, May 24 2017, 8:04 pm

Delete

Last edited by amother on Tue, Feb 12 2019, 1:15 am; edited 1 time in total

pesek zman

Wed, May 24 2017, 8:14 pm

I fostered good habits right away and feel it helped. Nighttime feeds were always in the dark, minimal talking. Naps were always in crib. I never fed 'to' sleep intentionally (many nurse 'to' sleep even at an older age. Doing so inhibits their ability to learn to fall asleep by themselves) and tried to put her to sleep awake. But sleep is a moving target and I used different sleep training methods as she got older.

amother

Papaya

Wed, May 24 2017, 8:23 pm

Teaching baby to fall asleep on their own in their crib is the long term goal. You work towards achieving it, and don't stress when it doesn't happen.
So when they are tiny and fall asleep in your arms immediately it's fine, as long as you don't get into the habit of rocking or nursing them to sleep.

dancingqueen

Wed, May 24 2017, 8:37 pm

I always read you can't spoil a newborn, so early on I do rock or nurse to sleep, and follow the basics of the happiest baby on the block. Mine are good sleepers during the night early on BH. The one thing I do is to wake them for feeds during the day so they'll sleep better at night.

The drowsy but awake thing is for a few months later.

lucky14

Wed, May 24 2017, 9:48 pm

My baby would NOT sleep in his bassinet that young. He wanted to sleep in my arms or SOMETIMES I'd get him to sleep in the bouncy seat if the vibration was on. Eventually he got OK with the bassinet- I don't remember exactly when but no way that young. I guess for some babies it's easier then others. But for that young I wouldn't even try.
btw if she WILL fall asleep in the crib or bassinet during the day that's prob. better so she wont become dependent on the swing/motion to fall asleep, but if she wont sleep in the bassinet I wouldn't leave her screaming in it to try to get her to learn to like it.
And yeah I agree the drowsy but asleep thing is for when they're a little older.

amother

Copper

Wed, May 24 2017, 10:51 pm

For now - enjoy your little Princess!

sleep training starts at 4 months officially (their livers store enough glucose for energy) but for no,w, don't get into bad habits:

Don't swing or rock to sleep... if she falls asleep in swing or carriage, that's fine, but don't do it on purpose to get her to sleep!
Do let her sleep in bassinet.
Do swaddle her and put her down. She can fall asleep in your arms now - she's only 10 days old ;-)

They say that for the first 2 months anything goes... awake but drowsy starts after that, but nothing strict should be done till 4 months.

amother

Goldenrod

Thu, May 25 2017, 5:13 pm

Read 'healthy sleep habits happy child' by weissbluth - at this age, it's more learning what their natural rhythms are and making their environment as conducive as possible to working with those rhythms to foster sleep.

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