DEMYSTIFYING BABY SLEEP- THE IMPORTANCE OF GOOD SLEEP FOR BABIES
Firstly, hello everyone!
It’s been a long, long while and here I am, back with something that gives most of us parents sleepless nights- baby sleep!
Why exactly do new parents fret so much about baby sleep? Why are there so many apps to track sleep and groups to discuss baby sleep?
Well, Sleep is very essential for everyone, especially so for babies as it impacts everything from their development, both physiologically and mentally. The quality of the baby’s sleep impacts a lot of the time the baby is awake as well.
Here are a few reasons why a new parent should take baby sleep seriously:
SLEEP PROMOTES GROWTH
Growth hormone is primarily secreted during deep sleep. Good sleep is said to be essential for optimal growth of the baby. This impacts the weight of the baby as well, which is a major indicator of growth in younger babies. A good night’s sleep is directly proportional to the baby gaining a few pounds in the first few months!
SLEEP HELPS BUILD IMMUNITY
During sleep, children (and adults) also produce proteins known as cytokines, which the body relies on to fight infection, illness, and stress. Decreased sleep has shown a steady decline in these proteins as well.
SLEEP INCREASES KIDS’ ATTENTION SPAN
How the baby sleep impacts how the baby is while awake too, qualitatively. Studies say that children who consistently sleep fewer than ten hours a night before age 3 are more likely to experience hyperactivity and are overtired during the day.
SLEEP ENHANCES LEARNING
Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center have shown that newborns actually learn in their sleep. There’s so much of brain development happening when they are asleep that a good night’s sleep is very crucial for optimal brain development of the child.
SLEEP AFFECTS CHILD BEHAVIOUR
A good night’s sleep has the baby all fresh the next day, making him or her less susceptible to meltdowns. The calmer a child’s brain is, the better it can function to process emotions and experiences.
Babies generally are good sleepers when they are born. But a lot of factors after birth, like overstimulation, overtired ness, hunger, separation anxiety, affect baby sleep; and as a result, we hear parents say- “MY BABY JUST WON’T SLEEP!”
Here are a few things that worked for us and might help your baby sleep better:
Help the baby establish a proper circadian rhythm: In layman terms, circadian rhythm is the biological clock our bodies have. When babies are born, their internal clocks aren’t synchronized with the external, 24-hour cycle of daylight and darkness. It takes time for babies to get in sync. We can help them set their rhythms by making them aware of day and night. Expose your baby to natural daylight, and involve your baby in the stimulating hustle and bustle of your daytime activities. When evening falls, protect your baby from exposure to artificial lighting.
Look for sleep cues: Sleep cues are signs that indicate a baby is ready to go to sleep. Some sleep clues include yawning, rubbing their eyes, zoning out during play, not interested in eating, and so on. Once you spot a cue, take the baby to bed before it’s too late and the baby ends up being overtired!
Maintain constant wake windows: A wake window is the time between two naps. At different stages of baby development, different wake windows are recommended. Try to follow constant wake windows, lest the baby gets overtired. An overtired baby is one who is so very sleepy but unable to sleep because they are not able to; their little brains just will not switch off!
Normalize nursing to sleep and nursing whilst sleeping: Nursing to sleep is a biological need. Babies need to be developmentally ready to sleep on their own. Nursing them to sleep can help them sleep faster and make them feel safer too!
DCQ!: Keep the room dark, calm, and quiet. This sets the sleeping environment right for the child. Personally, I would say this is a double edged sword. Though it’s greatly helpful, it becomes hard when you want to put the baby to sleep under other circumstances. But every baby is different and each one reacts in their own way. So there’s really no saying that this might become a habit that would be hard to break!
The NO GADGET rule: Don’t bring gadgets to bed, the light emitted disturbs them. Put all electronic devices away at least an hour before bedtime so that both you and the baby get some sound sleep! Bonus- Keeping electromagnetic devices away from babies also reduces their exposure to EMF!
Wishing you and your baby, good sleep 🙂
Hugs, mommas and daddas!
