Top 10 Baby Sleep Myths
Do you recognize yourself in any of these statements? Here's the truth about the most common misconceptions.
Myth #1: My baby wakes up because of gas. The most common reason older babies wake up and stay up is that they lack the self-calming tools necessary to manage night awakenings.
Myth #2: My baby wakes up because he's hungry. Like adults, babies eat for reasons other than hunger. A baby will nurse because it's the only way he knows how to get back to sleep.
Myth #3: My baby is a poor sleeper. We inadvertently train our babies to be poor sleepers by not equipping them with the skills they need to fall asleep.
Myth #4: Rice cereal before bedtime will help my baby sleep longer. Hunger is typically not the cause of sleep problems after 3 to 4 months of age.
Myth #5: Crying damages a baby's psyche. I've known babies who were raised on attachment parenting principles and those allowed to cry it out. Can I tell them apart by their intellectual, psychological, or emotional states? Absolutely not!
Myth #6: It's easier to sleep-train an older baby. The longer a habit is reinforced, the harder it is to break.
Myth #7: Teething disrupts sleep. This may be true at times, but teething is blamed for way too many sleep problems.
Myth #8: Poor sleep habits improve eventually. Without their parents' help, the vast majority of babies will sleep worse, not better, over time. Sleep problems don't magically disappear. Consider the 2004 Sleep in America Poll, which found that two-thirds of children from infancy to age 10 experience frequent sleep problems.
Myth #9: Babies will get the sleep they need. If only! Babies resist sleep like similarly charged magnets resist each other. Parents need to insure a baby gets enough sleep.
Myth #10: There's no harm in getting up with my baby as long as I'm willing to do it. If you enable unhealthy sleep habits, you run the risk of your child developing long-standing sleep problems that will persist into the preschool years.
Cathryn Tobin, MD, is a pediatrician, a trained midwife, and a member of the Canadian Pediatric Society and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons. She has been speaking on parenting issues for more than twenty years. Visit her on the Web at www.mylullababy.com.
Copyright 2007 Modern Mom, LLC. All rights reserved.
Member Comments On...
Top 10 Baby Sleep Myths
21 |
MY YOUNGEST DAUGHTER IS 1 OF THOSE BABIES WHO WANTED TO BE UP FOR HRS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT, NO MORE I FORCED MYSELF TO LET HER CRY IT OUT, EVEN THOUGH IT TOOK 15 OR 20 MINUTES SOME NIGHTS! SHE STILLS WILL WAKE FROM TIME TO TIME BUT I LEAVE HER & SHE DOES GO BACK TO SLEEP ALL BY HERSELF!!!!
140 |
i have no idea what to do anymore. the first 7 months were great my child would sleep all night long in her crib. but now all of a sudded she wont sleep in her crib at all, she will fall asleep on me and then when i go to put her in the crib she wakes up screaming, she wont even take naps in her crib. what should i do?
9 |
well I guess we got pretty lucky in a unfortunate way we recently had twins (3 months ago) and they were 1 1/2 months early were in ICU for 2 weeks and have not had to much of a problem with their sleep habits we could not really hold them to much and when we got them home we were alittle scared to hold them to much "they need their sleep" the nurse told us we did sleep with them for about 2 weeks now they sleep in the crib just fine all through the night so far crossin my fingers... however our 9 yr. old is another story. Just stay to u and what u belive it will work out in the end...God Bless u and yours
