Supporting Your Baby’s Sleep

SUPPORTING YOUR BABY’S SLEEP

In those early weeks and months, you can’t avoid answering questions about your baby’s sleep.

“Does he/she sleep well for you?”

“How many times did you get mummy up last night?”

“Is he/she sleeping through yet?”

“Is he/she a good baby?” – the one that always annoyed me the most!

If they are not needing your help to get back to sleep frequently during the night, they are thought of as ‘good’; by contrast are all those babies who look to their caregiver for support ‘bad’? Of course not.

Believe me, I know how hard those disturbed nights are. My eldest woke frequently for the best part of 2 years and learned to get back to sleep during the night without my help at around age 3. And I remember (in a haze) the period where she woke every hour for 6 weeks.

My youngest woke every 2 hours for 2 years and we are now in a relatively much improved situation where he has 1-2 brief wake-ups needing a cuddle.

5 years of disrupted sleep is REALLY hard. I am someone who always felt that I needed more sleep than most before having children. But we adapt. I have responded to every wake up when they’ve needed me without fail. And I don’t regret a single one.

Helping your baby to feel safe and secure enough that you, their main caregiver and source of protection is there for them no matter what, no matter what time of day or night is the most precious gift you can give them.

As part of our Baby Massage & Wellbeing classes, we learn simple techniques to soothe your baby and build associations for sleep at bedtime and naptime.

Cuddles are vital so I always offer adaptations for massage techniques with baby in arms for those times when they need to be connected to their favourite person.