Babies born April 2008 #4

[alittlegrubi]

This is on the huggies website under BeingAParent/YourBabysSleep

This program is a step by step guide to helping your baby or child sleep through the night ? every night. It offers a guide to controlled comforting techniques that are the most tried and proven way to get infants with poor sleeping habits to sleep through the night.

Newborn - 6 months
SIDS and Kids recommend wrapping a baby1 and sleeping them on their back. We always recommend that all parents follow SIDS guidelines when your baby is asleep. During the program we use a technique of settling a baby on their side, however you should never leave your baby to sleep in this position. Follow these steps to settle your baby:


Wrap your baby firmly but not tightly in a lightweight material, cotton or muslin is ideal. This will help him feel secure and take control of his hands, stopping him from catching himself on the face if he flails around. Once baby is sleeping we will then loosen the wrap and roll baby onto their back. Always ensure wrapping is well secured and unable to cover your babies breathing passages. Wrapping is not required after the age of 3 months.
Place him in his cot on his side, facing away from you, and with his feet close to the end of the cot. This is to avoid any eye contact.
Make a note of the time: you?re going to give him 15 minutes to settle. Place one hand on his shoulder and with the other hand pat his bottom. He will probably be crying at this stage but keep patting. When the crying stops then stop the patting. The aim is to get him to fall asleep by himself not pat him off to sleep. If the crying starts again, start patting.
If after 15 minutes he has not settled, pick him up give him a cuddle to settle him down (be careful not to rock him off to sleep) then turning him onto his other side (you will need to go around to the other side of the cot) begin the settling again for a further 15 minutes. You can settle for up to one hour, but after that you should offer a drink.
Once he is sleeping you can then roll him onto his back and loosen and secure the wrap.
Anything under one hour is considered a catnap and you should use the settling techniques to resettle without picking them up first.

It also has a guide as to how much sleep your baby should be having:
Newborn
Number of sleeps per day 4
Average time up during the day between sleeps 1 hour
Time it may take to settle 15 minutes

Newborns will be asleep 16 to 18 hours per day.
Will sleep for 1 to 3 hours at a time.
Anything less than 1 hour is called a catnap or a power nap.
It is expected for baby to wake overnight for a feed.