In the first few months of life, children don’t really distinguish between day and night. They have short periods of being awake, followed by longer periods of being asleep, with feeds in between. Most children need to be fed in two hourly intervals. However, children may need to feed much more frequently than that during growth spurts, teething and other periods of growth and change. Eventually, sleep consolidation tends to happen, and children are able to go longer stretches at night, but may still wake for a feed, or for comfort.

Recommendations:

• On their back, awake but sleepy, warm, no blankets, no pillows.
• Also, don’t nurse to sleep, unlatch when baby is still awake
• Put baby to sleep in the same room as parents for the first year, but in a crib
• Co-sleep only with a full-term baby, when the mother is well and sober. No sharing of covers across baby

Good practices:

• Make sure children are napping adequately
• Establish predictable sleep routines
• Create a pattern for returning to sleep
• Give it time

Sleep regressions

These tend to happen during periods of intense growth. The four month sleep regression and the six month sleep regressions are well documented, and throw many a newly-sleeping longer stretches parents completely for a loop. Basically, as children begin to learn new skills or enter a new phase of their development, the impending changes can basically make it difficult for them to self-soothe.

Sometimes, difficulties putting children to sleep can be a result of them being overtired or overstimulated.

There are also serious medical concerns that can make sleep difficult including:

1. Silent reflux
2. Obstructed breathing
3. Low iron stores
4. Temperament