Saturday, May 10, 2008

Sleeping Baby

Our little guy is now over three weeks old. As you can tell by my lack of posts we have been extremely busy. He seems to be sleeping at 2-3 hour intervals and then he is up feeding, fusing, getting changed and/or playing with us for 40 minutes. We are both learning how to be parents and loving ever minute of it. Does this sound right, in terms of the sleep? To answer this question I thought I would do some research and this is what I found.

The following information can be found at BabyCentre in the article Establishing Good Sleep Habits 0-3 Months:

Newborns sleep a lot -- about 17 to 18 hours a day for the first few weeks and 15 hours a day by month three. However, they almost never sleep for more than three to four hours at a time, day or night. We can sure vouch for this. He likes to sleep at the most three hours at a time!

The Canadian Paediatic Society recommends that babies sleep at night in a crib next to their parents' bed for the first six months. Other recommendations include:

  • Put your baby down on his back to sleep, not his front or his side. We were sure worried about this because of SIDS. The first two weeks we made sure he stayed on his back but now he sometimes turns to his side and we let him.
  • Put him with his feet at the end of the crib so he can't wriggle too far down under the blankets. We actualy are using bassinet right now and will soon be switching to his crib as he is getting too long.
  • Keep your baby's room at a temperature of around 18 degrees C / 64 degrees F.
  • For bedding, use a sheet and cellular blankets rather than a duvet. We are using organic sheets that we bought online and they are sure working well.
  • Check that your baby isn't getting too hot or too cold by feeling his stomach: if he's too hot, remove a blanket, if he's cold, add one. Don't go by his hands or feet, as it is normal for them to feel cold.
One final article I enjoyed on sleep was Gentle Ways to Help Your Baby Sleep Through the Night by Elizabeth Pantley found at Canadian Parents.

It talks about differnt options for sounds that you can use to put a baby to sleep to. Our little guy loves the sound of water or waves in the ocean. It seems to always do the trick. That reminds me I need to change the batteries.

If you have any other ideas please let me know!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi there! Congratulations! isn't it the best thing?! the best thing we have found for our little one with helping her to sleep soundly and safely is putting her in a sleep sack. there are a bunch out there but i think Halo is the best. https://www.halosleep.com/ they have swaddles for when they are tiny (like a wearable blanket) and they have bigger sizes all the way up to big kid sizes. My daughter is 19 months now and sleeps with one every night - they have sleepsacks that have holes for the feet to come out so they can walk around the bed. if you are the kind of mom i am and want to put your tiny one in a bubble you should look into these - i just love them and my child doesn't sleep a night without one one! It helps me to sleep better knowing she is safe and not under a loose blanket. i see you got some organic sheet and i know Halo has some organic stuff too - you will love it check it out!
take care!
Dixie

עגלות תינוק מומלצות said...

יפה מאוד

Google Search

Google

Technorati