Baby's Sleep

A quick guide on TOG for you to find out how to dress our baby properly for sleeping. We've put together a TOG rating guide that displays the different TOG levels with the different sleep sack types from the sleeping bag to sleep sacks with legs for big kids and kids on the run!

By: Linda Szmulewitz, founder of Sleep Tight Consultants Don't Fear the Nap Transition! Nap transitions often are known for striking fear in the hearts of parents everywhere and never is this more true when your young toddler is transitioning from 2 naps to 1.  Never fear though, this information will guide you through the different scenarios to watch out for and talk you through how to navigate to your toddler’s new sleep schedule. At what age should you transition? What is often happening for children around a year old is that they are learning to walk.  This is great!  This is an important developmental milestone and your introduction to becoming the parent of a toddler.  There is a lot of brain activity that happens when children are learning and mastering large gross motor milestones such as walking.  This can make napping a struggle.  So if you put your 13 month old down for a morning nap at the normal nap time, but he just plays for the whole time and he is also just on the cusp of walking, this could be a result of the impending milestone and not an indication that he doesn’t need that morning nap anymore. Ensure that your child has plenty of opportunity to practice his new skills during non-sleeping times. It can also be helpful to push naps a little later in order to increase the sleep pressure and ensure that your child, who has a lot running through his brain, is really ready to fall asleep when he goes into the crib. If your toddler (under 15 months) is refusing naps, here is how to handle the situation: Make sure naps are not starting before 9am and 2pm.  If they are happening earlier then this, start by moving them to these target times to see if this encourages napping again.  If you are hitting 9am and 2pm, but your toddler still won’t nap, try to push them even a bit later.  They can even go as late as 10am and 3pm.  You may even find that you have to push the afternoon nap to as late as 3:30pm to ensure that it happens. What if your babe just won't nap? If, with later nap times, your toddler still won’t take both naps (especially if the afternoon nap is becoming very difficult to make happen), look at how long those naps are lasting.  Many toddlers LOVE their morning nap and will sleep for 2 hours in the morning.  At that point, he has had nearly all of the sleep he needs for the day so there is no sleep pressure left for the afternoon nap.  I would start by limiting the morning nap to not longer then 1 hour.  Yes, it is okay to wake a sleeping toddler.  This is one of the instances where this can be very important.  Sometimes this nap might even be as short as 45 minutes or even 15 minutes (more on that super short nap next). If even with the morning nap shortened to 45-60 minutes, the afternoon nap is still a struggle, then I find that a 15 minute morning cat nap can be very helpful.  The afternoon nap is actually the more important of the two naps as this is the one that helps your toddler make it to bedtime without being overtired.  This is why it is essential to make the PM nap happen.  Many children are still tired for a morning nap though so the cat nap that starts no later then 10am can be helpful to “take the edge” off that morning exhaustion and enable your toddler to make it to a long nap starting around 1 or 1:30pm without being overtired.  Be careful not to let this cat nap go beyond 15 minutes as you want to avoid going through sleep cycles at this time. Does your babe take early morning naps? If the above shortening tricks don’t encourage an afternoon nap, then as a last resort, you can start to push the morning nap later and later, knowing that the afternoon nap will not happen.  Often this looks like a nap that happens from 11am to 1pm.  While a 2 hour nap is great, ending at 1pm leaves a very long stretch to bedtime.  You will want to start inching this nap later so that it eventually starts no earlier then noon.  Some things to keep in mind about the 2 naps to 1 transition: Afternoon Nap is a Must! When your toddler moves to 1 nap, it needs to be an afternoon nap.  When only the morning nap happens, it produces a lot of overtiredness which can lead to an early morning wake up the next day.  Ideally, the nap isn’t starting before noon.  As your toddler moves closer to 18 months, that nap often starts around 1pm.  Naps are Naps! Even if they're short naps. When your toddler starts taking 1 nap, it isn’t always going to be a good nap.  It can take some time for your toddler’s brain to consolidate two shorter naps into one longer nap.  The bare minimum for one nap is an hour and a half.  If your toddler is waking after a shorter period of time, it can be worthwhile to give him some time to go back to sleep.  You may be wondering “How long should my toddler nap when down to 1 nap?”  Ideally, this nap is now around 2-2.5 hours.  Some toddlers will even take a 3 hour nap but this isn’t usually the norm. Take it slow, no rush. When you go to 1 nap, there may still be some 2 nap days in between 1 nap days depending on how your toddler seems in the morning.  This is okay, it doesn’t have to be all or nothing.   Good luck adjusting to the new normal for your toddler’s sleep!

By: Sweet Slumber Are you thinking of ways to sleep train your baby so you can get good sleep yourself? If the thought of making your baby 'cry it out' scares you and hurts you, you might want to keep reading to learn about a gentle approach to sleep training your baby based on the baby's temperaments.  We asked sleep consultant Meredith Brough from Sweet Slumber who specializes in gentle sleep training methods to provide us her thoughts on how you can do this! A Gentle Approach to Sleep Training Suited to Your Child’s Temperament One of the common questions in the parenting world of sleep is “how do I get my child to self-soothe?” When children self-soothe or calm themselves, they become independent sleepers and sleep through the night in their cribs. But, if babies or toddlers have a hard time learning this skill, it can leave parents feeling burnt out and hopeless. “Self-soothing” is the ability to calm oneself without assistance from another person. Sometimes self-soothing happens naturally. For example, when babies suck their thumbs or hands, they can often fall asleep and go back to sleep without parental assistance. Some parents quickly find that their children respond well to pacifiers or “loveys”, while other parents buy several items for months, only to throw in the towel. These are the babies and toddlers that get worked up and feel very upset when they are left alone in their beds, because they rely heavily on their parents to comfort and soothe them. If your baby or toddler isn’t making progress in this area, there is nothing wrong. Your child is normal and is developing emotional regulation on time. Babies’ brains aren’t developed enough to calm themselves down for a few years. Most of the progress in this area occurs between 2-5 years old. That means a large number of children depend on their parents to calm them down, so, you are not alone! But, there is hope for your child, too. Why do some babies relax and calm themselves naturally and sleep well so easily? There are babies who are born with an innate ability to relax and settle themselves. They aren’t taught this skill, it comes from inside; like an inner sense of security and peace. Babies like this have “textbook” or “angelic” temperaments, according to the author of “Secrets of the Baby Whisperer”, Tracy Hogg. Babies and toddlers with personalities that are relaxed and laid back, naturally “go with the flow.” They are predictable and fuss only when they are hungry, tired or need their diapers changed. They can calm themselves quickly or with a little assistance from their parents, and may even be taught to fall asleep applying the “drowsy but awake” rule. Relevant Read:  How To Established A Bedtime Routine How to Dress Your Baby For Bedtime Online sleep advice and sleep books are geared towards helping “angelic” and “textbook” babies and toddlers. Since this description only fits a portion of children, a large number of parents get left in the dark, battling their children’s sleep problems alone.  It might be exciting to learn that children have other types of temperaments and traits, such as “sensitive,” “spirited,” and “grumpy.” I find that most children have a combination of temperament types. It’s important to identify their challenging traits to understand their needs. Even a few traits that are challenging will affect independence, the ability to self-soothe, and produce poor sleep habits. Some examples of challenging traits are: very physically attached, high energy, demanding, opinionated, fussy, sensitive, and intense. When there are several challenging traits present, babies and toddlers are categorized as “high needs” or “spirited” children.  Little ones with challenging traits and those who depend on their parents to soothe them, respond well to “thinking outside of the box” instead of traditional ideas. The sleep consultant Meredith's creative approach develops strong sleep habits, permanently, for all types of children and babies. The methods are gentle and effective, so parents enjoy the process instead of dreading it. This is the Successful Sleep™ system process: 1. Listen to your instincts/intuition always.  You know your child best and have intuition about what he or she needs. If you feel something will not work, or something is not right for you or your child, don’t do it. If you feel that your child needs you, respond and don’t worry about bad habits and messing things up. The process you are following and the skills you are building will cement these habits into lasting ones. Meeting your child’s needs means building security, forever. At night, when children are going through regressions, acting fussy and not wanting to be put down, there is a reason. You are the main source of comfort, because your child cannot calm down alone (all children need to be comforted at times). When your baby or toddler struggles to sleep, it is almost always because of pain, discomfort, separation anxiety, or restlessness from developmental changes. 2. Conform the approach to your child’s temperament and needs. Find methods that mesh well with the way that you are doing things now. You will understand what this looks like when you read #5. Worry about what works for your child and what he or she needs, and it will be right for both of you. 3. Offer comfort and reassurance. Babies and toddlers who can’t regulate their emotions need their parents to do this for them. Identifying what helps your child relax and settle is an important step towards helping your child fall asleep on his or her own. Relaxing is what you want your child to do. Right now, your baby needs help through motion, being held in your arms, feeding, or having little to no contact (for sensitive temperaments). Pay close attention to what brings comfort to your child while falling asleep. Some babies get worked up quickly because of their sensitivity, fussy dispositions, or FOMO. Do what will help him or her feel at ease going in the crib, so that you can progress! 4. Create a sense of trust and security. (One of the most important steps!) Make sure that your child feels secure in the room and bed that is used for naps and bedtime. You will want your child to spend a lot of time there to create familiarity and peace. Teach your child to trust you! Make sure you respond when your child calls (or soon after). Teach him or her about object permanence to help with separation anxiety. Continue to build trust and security while you teach independent sleep skills.  5. Teach your child HOW to fall asleep. The way that you have been helping your child slow down and fall asleep up to this point, has been facilitating sleep in every way. Babies and toddlers become very reliant on their mothers when it comes to falling asleep, so they sleep lightly, wake up as they change sleep cycles, and feel upset when they find that they are alone. They expect and demand your reassuring help to go back to sleep. When it comes to changing this dependency, putting little children down in bed, happy or not, is not enough to help them fall asleep. This is a huge problem. MOST of them need help figuring it out!  They need to learn HOW to fall asleep without rocking, holding, feeding, bouncing, driving, walking, etc., by slowly getting used to going in their beds, with your assistance and comfort, and keeping them calm. Later, they need to be weaned off all of the support, gradually. Here are some examples to get you thinking.  A. One gentle independent sleep method is to transition out of one crutch into the next and work towards falling asleep in the crib, one step at a time, changing your method every day or two. This can work for some mothers and babies, is worth a try, but takes patience. It can also be stressful. For example, if you are rocking, slow down first, then the next step is to stop rocking. Follow that by standing in place, and finally, lie your baby in the crib and pat him or her to sleep. This could take too many steps and you may get burnt out or your child may begin to fuss a lot at bedtime. It works best for textbook/angelic babies. B. Modified “Pick Up/Put Down” Method by Tracy Hogg. This one works well for easy-going babies in its original format. But many babies may get overstimulated and upset and will not settle down, following the traditional way. Meredith's approach to this method is:                          Use this method for naps and bedtime. Lay your child in the crib. When he or she is not content in there anymore, pick up and hold him or her to settle. Lay your child back down. Use this plan for a few minutes for a couple of days to get your child used to it. After a few minutes, put your child to sleep the old way. If your child is not in the right mood, don’t push it. Stop. Listen to your instincts. Use the method for a few minutes longer every 1-2 days. Then, put your child to sleep the old way at the end of the process.  Repeat, extending the time by 1-5 minutes every day or two, depending on how the child is handling it.  As the process gets longer, your child will relax and learn to fall asleep in the crib. The old way of falling to sleep will be phased out. This works for little ones who only calm when held (and fall asleep in your arms or feeding). It is a sensitive method, unless your child gets upset every time you lay him back in the crib. Progressing slowly could help a child like this. When your child is falling asleep on his or her own, walk out of the room often, coming back to comfort as needed. This will help you wean your baby off of your presence. C. Lastly, the “Chair Method” by Kim West, can be effective for easy-going toddlers and babies, too. The way it is written is not effective for children who need to be held or touched to calm down, or if they are grumpy or sensitive and get worked up too quickly and intensely to be able to sleep. Some kids hate their cribs (implementing crib/bedroom playtime will make a big difference here). High energy toddlers won’t sit still or relax and fall asleep without being held. There are children who scream and cry because they can see their parents but they aren’t responding. To make this method effective...  Do this method for naps and bedtime.  Put the chair next to the bed instead of moving it gradually towards the door (do that part later, after your child is falling asleep in the crib). Offer reassurance through gentle patting, the weight of your hand, and closeness. Get up and calm your child in your arms and put him or her back into bed. Use your voice to shush and hum to invoke sleepiness. Limit the method to short periods that get longer every day or two, for example, Start at 5-10 minutes. If your child is not in the right mood, don’t push it. Stop. Listen to your instincts. Repeat this every day, and at appropriate times when your child is handling it well, add 3-5 minutes at a time. Go back to what's familiar at first, and when your child falls asleep doing this, he or she will eventually phase out the old way of going to sleep. These are just a few ideas for building independent sleep skills, based on popular gentle methods.  If these suggestions don’t work for your child after trying them for about a week or so, listen to your instincts and follow the guidelines to come up with a method of your own! I have seen many wonderful approaches to building sleep habits from mothers like you.  Consistency is important in making progress, but you don’t have to be perfect to successfully teach your child sleep habits. Do your best and be positive towards yourself and your child to move the process along smoothly. Depending on the temperament of the child, it usually takes 1-2 weeks to build security and trust (step #4), and 1-2 weeks to teach babies and toddlers to put themselves to sleep (step #5). It can take longer, especially if teething or mental leaps affect moods and cause separation anxiety. If this occurs, you may have to wait it out and try again later. Meeting your child’s needs during this time will continue to build security, and taking a break will prevent burnout and added stress for you. When you form sleep habits by following this gentle and responsive approach, you will find that your child has learned to self-soothe. Babies, toddlers, and children can be taught strong sleep habits for a lifetime, applying these principles, no matter the rate of their emotional development, age, or temperament.  About Author Meredith Brough, Sweet Slumber: Sweet Slumber, LLC was founded in 2017 by Meredith Brough who, over the course of 15 years,  succeeded in establishing strong sleep habits for her own children and several of her friends and daycare clients. Meredith has now supported over 350 families professionally and has served countless others worldwide in her Successful Sleep Facebook Group. She is devoted to using her own gentle, “no-cry”, methods that support intuitive parenting practices to meet children’s needs. Meredith specializes in supporting mothers of children with high needs or challenging personalities, and women with postpartum mental health disorders.

You survived the first month with the baby! First month is always the hardest, as you are recovering from giving birth and adjusting to the new life with the baby.  As you enter your second month with the baby, there may be slight changes to baby's sleep patterns.  While first month's sleep may have been sporadic and not regular, the second month's sleep might be similar until you start to add more consistency to their nap schedule. Babies at this age will be more awake than during their first few weeks.  Baby's Second Month Sleep Schedule and Feeding Guidance Few Tips on the Second Month With the Baby Babies should be fed every 2.5-3 hours  Feed 8-10 times during 24 hour span  Naps should be around 1.5-2.5 hours long each time Let the baby sleep and don't make them overtired as overtired babies have more difficulties settling down for sleep It's okay to wake the baby up for feeding to maintain the routine Baby can be allowed to sleep longer stretches at night around 6 weeks old, but many babies don't do this until later You can review our first month sleep schedule and feeding guidance here, since maintaining EASY routine and 2.5-3 hour routine during the day will be the same as the first month.  The only difference might be that the babies can drink more and as a result has the ability to sleep longer stretches at night time.  At this stage, babies can drink up to 4 oz of milk as shown in the schedule below. However, babies vary in sizes and weights so their intake may vary.  Using the guidance that 2.5 ounces each day for every pound the baby weighs should be given to the baby, if the baby weighs 10 pounds, 25 ounces of milk should be given in a day. If you feed the baby over 8 feedings, then, the baby should drink about 3 oz each feeding.  Here's a sample schedule of what 2 month old's sleep schedule looks like. Each cycle will start off with Feeding, Activities, and Napping.  7am 10am 1pm 4pm 7pm - Bedtime 10pm - Dreamfeed 2:30 - One night feeding Remember that above is a sample schedule and your baby is not a robot! They may wake up early from naps or may get hungry before the next 3 hour cycle. You may have to adjust your schedule but try to maintain the consistency. Striving to keep the first wake up time and bedtime will help you greatly in maintaining consistency to the routine. RELEVANT READ:  Real Life Story About Adopting A Babywise Routine - What I learned in the first 6 weeks The difference between the first month and the second month is that the baby might drop two night feedings to one, and may be awake for a longer period of time. When putting the baby down for a nap, ensuring optimal wake time before the nap would help you and the baby to go down for a nap easily.  While the wake-time varies for babies, babies at this age usually cannot stay awake for more than an hour. Putting the baby down after an optimal awake time will do the trick in making the baby sleep long stretches of time and also make them fall asleep without much fussing or crying.  RELEVANT READ:  How To Put Your Baby To Sleep - 3 Steps Why Do Babies Wake Up So Often? Baby Sleep Schedule During the second month, you will start to notice that the baby is more active and alert, but their sleep pattern may still seem irregular. Remember that instead of stressing out about your baby not sticking to the schedule or not doing things the books say or your other friends' babies are doing, use flexibility and work towards establishing a good routine.  RELEVANT READ: How To Establish A Bedtime Routine If you stay consistent on how you put your baby down, you baby will quickly learn that once the routine starts, it's bedtime, and go down for naps much more easily.  Hope this was helpful! Leave a comment below and share your experience with your baby during the second month! 

Real Life Story About Adopting A Babywise Routine

Baby's First Month Sleep Schedule and Feeding Guidance - Few Tips on the First Month With the Baby

Simple and Easy Sample Daily Sleep Schedule from 4 Months to 3 Years

One of the best ways to help ensure little ones (and mom and dad!) get a good night's sleep is to establish a consistent bedtime routine. This helps to make the daytime to nighttime transition seamless while also helping baby know what to expect next. A comfortable and secure baby is a better sleeping baby! Sooner is definitely better than later when it comes to establishing a bedtime routine with baby. According to BabyCenter "When your baby is as young as 6 or 8 weeks old, start following a set pattern every night. She'll quickly come to appreciate the consistency and predictability." (source) Follow these below tips and get started on creating your own unique routine right away. Watch for baby's sleepiness cues and use those as the starting point for your routine. If baby consistently starts to doze off around 7:00 pm each night, plan to start your routine by at least 6:45 pm each night (or earlier, depending on how involved your routine is). Don't fight baby's natural tendencies; use them to your advantage! The consistency of your routine is much more important than the "what" of your routine. You don't need to squeeze in a bath, a massage, listening to quiet music, cuddles in a glider, a favorite book, and saying goodnight to each stuffed animal to have a perfect bedtime routine. Maybe what works best for your family is dressing your baby in their comfy Tealbee sleepsack followed by some special cuddle time, a good book, and a song. Well, then that's the perfect routine for your baby! Now repeat that every night. Be prepared for bumps along the way, especially as baby grows. As Parents.com says, "as your child gets older, you will experience more woes that accompany bedtime. Every child has her hang-ups when it comes to the bedtime routine: Whether it be stalling for more time reading, not wanting to brush her teeth, or complaining about her pajamas. The best way to deal with these problems is to simply know they are coming. By anticipating her protest, you will be able to maneuver around it smoothly in a manner that suits your child best." (source) Use a similar, albeit shorter, routine for daytime naps. What To Expect recommends that you "take advantage of the sleep cues your baby knows and incorporate them into her before-nap pattern. While you probably don’t want to take the time or the effort to do a major bath or full-body massage, you may very well want to read a story or two or sing a song to help your cutie transition to naptime more easily." (source) The bedtime routine you establish with baby will become a special, favorite part of each day. It will help you bond and will build cherished memories for you both.