why do babies sleep

why do babies sleep

 Babies are immature beings.  It is commonly considered that the first 3 months of a baby’s life really should have been in utero.  It’s just that they can’t get out with  their relatively large head if they stay in there much longer.

Human babies are quite immature in  relation to other mammals when born and much more dependent.
This lends itself to the theory mentioned above that the first 3 months of a baby’s life are really the fourth trimester of pregnancy.  Babies mostly sleep while they are in utero as they are growing and developing.

 For all of us sleep is for energy replenishing, wind down time, time out to recharge and relax.  It is when our cells regenerate and grow most and our hormones regulate. Babies are still growing and maturing in the first 3 months which is what makes them interesting and challenging.

Why babies sleep is also so that they can process all the sensory input they have received throughout the day. Babies ‘ senses are geared up for learning.  Sight, sound, smell, taste and touch are all turned up on high so that they can learn as much about their environment as possible.  As adults we have learned to screen out some stimulation.  At times we also feel overwhelmed with too much sensory input and need to have time out.

With your baby keep that in mind and think about how immature they are and how they have no control over their environment.  All the busyness of our modern life is often too much for babies to handle and can over stimulated them really easily.
Hence frequent sleeps to reset, process and get time out are necessary for a happy relaxed baby, and lead to an answer as to why do babies sleep so much.

Change

To change ingrained habits it takes an adult at least 3 weeks. Remembering this can help when wanting to change a habit of your little one. They aren't choosing to change and have no understanding of why anything should change so they will fight it. Consistency with gentleness will get you there but you must persist for change to happen.

Newborn sleep cycles

    Newborn sleep cycles are short. 10-20 minutes.  They get longer as your baby matures.

"I feel like superwoman"

Nursing with babies - Another happy client story

Nursing with babies or breastfeeding can be challenging for many.  Here is another true story of one of my clients.
Harvey is 7 weeks old.  Mum is desperately wanting to breastfeed. Mum has doubts about her ability to breastfeed and I am her last resort. After talking with mum, I thought we could improve things for her, but I wasn’t sure how much. We decided to give it a try.  Often I need to see what is going on to get a better idea.

These have been her hurdles to date:
Labour induced,  Caesarean, big hungry baby, delayed milk supply,  no confidence in milk supply, previous breast surgery, perceived low milk supply.
Mum has tried everything she can find - nipple shields, expressing, herbs & medication to increase her milk supply. Expressing would only get 20 – 50 mls often, but at times could get 100 mls.
At that time, Harvey was feeding every 2 and a half to 3 hours having a few sucks at the breast and getting formula or breast milk topups of about 50-100mls minimum. Feeding was taking one and a half hours at times after offering a breastfeed, then a bottle then expressing and cleaning bottles etc. Mum was exhausted and had sought help with breastfeeding and nursing with babies from a number of sources with little success.
All we did was change around the feeding.  Mum learned  Harvey’s different cues for feeding and sleep. Mum’s confidence in her ability to breastfeed increased as she saw that Harvey was satisfied at the breast.

The first day Harvey had  topups of 60 mls in total. The second day he had topups of 40 mls in total. After only 2 days he was not needing any topups at all.

Harvey is sleeping so much better and even self settling which was not any part of her goal, it’s just a bonus.
Mum is over the moon, Dad is happy, Harvey is content, settled and very happy. Mum’s confidence is building and there is no reason why she and Harvey cannot breastfeed for as long as they choose.
Now her challenge is to believe she can do it.


A week later  she said to me- “I feel Like superwoman”. In the first few days of her breastfeeding success she would still take bottles with her when she was out with Harvey- just in case. Now she feels awesome to say she doesn’t take any at all.
It can pay off to persevere when nursing with babies.

[caption id="attachment_1440" align="alignnone" width="150"] "I feel sensational"[/caption]

UPdate to blog post-  http://insyncwithinfants.com/where-should-babies-sleep/

"I feel sensational" -

The words I heard yesterday from a mum who has been slowly improving her 11 week old baby girls' sleep habits.
I wrote about 'Sophie' in a recent blog article titled-
Where should babies sleep. http://insyncwithinfants.com/where-should-babies-sleep/
Here is the latest update. Bear in mind Mum has been gently working on this for a month now.
- “Sophie slept for 30 minutes yesterday morning, then another 30 minutes, then, wait for it, 1 and a half hours, then another 2 x 30 minute sleeps in the afternoon and 8 hours overnight.  I feel sensational.”
WEll done Mum.

What should babies sleep in

What should babies sleep in

It can be confusing for parents to decide what should babies sleep in.  This is particularly so with the change of seasons.


As a general rule keep in mind that babies cannot regulate their temperature like adults can. Babies have an immature nervous system when born.   One of the trade offs is that they cannot easily cool down or warm up.  I see it as another indicator that newborns are meant to be with their mother or caregiver bodily in the early weeks of life.

When a baby is against your body they generally get enough heat to stay warm.  This is often why babies settle really well against someone’s chest. Of course it is more complex than that.  There is also smell, the feeling of security, safety and comfort.

When we need to warm up consider what we do.  Our bodies will shiver as a means to increase warmth from our muscles.  We could move more- do some exercise etc.  We could put on more clothing or have a warm shower or bath.

To cool down we can remove layers, use a fan, have a swim or cool shower or have a cool drink. We can also choose to do nothing on those really hot days.  We also have the privilege of air conditioning if not in your home then at shopping centres and for many on a very hot summer day that is exactly what many choose to do to get out of the heat.

When deciding what babies should sleep in a general guide is think about what you are comfortable in and then either add or remove one layer.  For example when it is warm- dress your baby in one less layer of clothing than you.  Always keep chest covered with a singlet at least.

When it is colder, dress  your baby in at least one more layer of clothing than you. Sometimes you may need to add a number of layers when it is really cold.  Remember your baby is not moving when asleep.  Often when babies are not setting well particularly at night it is because they may be just a little bit cooler than comfortable. Adding a layer may make all the difference.

Sleeping bags and swaddling are also a layer.  It is safer to have a number of thin layers than one really thin layer in most instances.   In places where the temperature is well below zero- then more and thicker layers will be necessary.

So consider the temperature and what you feel like in relation to temperature when deciding what  should babies sleep in.