THE ESSENTIAL. Sleep. Guide to. Expert advice to help you and your baby get a good night s rest starting tonight!

Transcription

1 THE ESSENTIAL Sleep Guide to Expert advice to help you and your baby get a good night s rest starting tonight!

2 Hello! Welcome to The M&B Essential Guide to Sleep. We really hope it will help you to help your little one get a better night s sleep tonight and every night after that. Which will, of course, mean some more shut-eye for you too. Because if there s one thing all of us mums love, it s that amazing moment when you open your eyes and realise it s an hour later than the middle-of-the-night time your baby normally wakes you up. Put the expert advice in this booklet into practice, and you can look forward to many, many more of those priceless moments. The Essential Guide to Sleep tells you everything you need to know about baby zzz s, from daytime naps to night-time sleep, from birth to two years and beyond. You ll find expert help to deal with common sleep issues, for instance if your baby wakes too early or won t settle unless she s being rocked for hours in your arms. Trust us, we know just how tough sleep issues can be, but it s never too late to start teaching your tot better sleep habits. Sweet dreams! The Essential Guide to Sleep Meet our expert Nicola Watson is a mum-of-two with a degree in social science and psychology. A former nanny, she is the founder of Child Sleep Solutions, a child sleep consultancy (childsleepsolutions.co.uk). She trains parents and professionals on the best ways to help babies sleep. Editor Emma Bailey Writer Katie Masters Art Editor Carly Hurd Production Editor Helen Milbank For more expert sleeping advice, visit motherandbaby.co.uk THE ESSENTIAL Guide to Sleep Expert advice to help you and your baby get a good night s sleep starting tonight! 2 motherandbaby.co.uk

3 Contents 4 How to use The Essential Guide to Sleep 6 Your baby s first week 8 One to six weeks 12 Six weeks to three months 16 Three to four months 20 Four to six months 24 Six to nine months 28 Nine to 12 months to 24 months PHOTOGRAPHY SHUTTERSTOCK motherandbaby.co.uk 3

4 How to use this guide The M&B Essential Guide to Sleep is divided into eight chapters, based on a baby s age. You can read this guide all the way through, or go straight to the section that deals with the age your baby is now. If you do skip sections, it s worth flicking back through the earlier chapters to check you re not missing useful information. GET AGE-SPECIFIC ADVICE TO HELP YOUR BABY SLEEP BETTER In every chapter, you ll find all the essential information necessary to understand your baby s sleep needs at this specific age, as well as expert advice on how to teach good sleeping habits. You ll learn how to read your baby s sleep cues, how to teach your baby to settle herself to sleep, and how to establish a good napping pattern. You ll also find tried-andtested tricks and skills to help you cope with the common sleep problems many mums experience when their babies are at this age. 4 motherandbaby.co.uk

5 FIND OUT HOW MUCH SLEEP YOUR BABY MIGHT NEED Every chapter also has a sleep diary showing how much sleep your baby might need in a day. This is just to give you a rough idea of what to expect. It s NOT a sleep schedule. Babies have their own schedules and they all vary slightly in how much they like to sleep, in just the same way they differ in how much they like to eat. Also, bottle-fed babies feed differently to breastfed babies, which can impact on sleep patterns. Don t try to follow these schedules but do use them to get an idea of what your baby might be doing at this age. DECIDE WHAT WORKS FOR YOU Above all, remember that what works for one baby won t necessarily work for another. As a parent, you ll be bombarded with suggestions of how to help your baby sleep. We say, get to know your baby and find a sleep routine that works for you and your family. And only choose techniques that you feel comfortable with. It takes patience to teach most babies how to nod off, and you ll only be able to stick with a method that you feel happy with. The information in this booklet is written for mums whose babies were born full-term, without any particular health issues. If your baby was premature or has any additional needs, he may need extra support. Talk to your midwife and health visitor to check what will, and will not, be appropriate for your family. motherandbaby.co.uk 5

6 Your baby s first week WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW In their first week of life, most babies sleep like they will never sleep again. They ve been through the momentous experience of being born and they re exhausted. So don t be surprised if your little one sleeps for hours, says Nicola Watson, founder of Child Sleep Solutions, a child sleep consultancy. Go with the flow, let her sleep and just wake her up for regular feeds. Newborn babies should be having a 6 motherandbaby.co.uk feed every three hours or so that s three hours from the time the last feed started. WAKE HER FOR FEEDS Sometimes your little one will latch on in her sleep, but most mums find it easier to wake their baby for feeds. To do that in the daytime, pick her up, carry her over to the window where it s bright and light and try gently tickling her face. If this doesn t work, try undoing her ESSENTIAL! Your milk will start to come in this week, which is a big demand on your body and can make you feel tired. Make sleep a priority for you this week, as well as your baby. babygro or changing her nappy. The change in temperature should make her stir. Chances are, soon after her feed, she ll nod off again. The world is so new and stimulating for babies of this age that many of them get overwhelmed after

7 Practical steps to sleep success The best place for your baby to sleep is in a cot or Moses basket in the same room as you. Although babies do sleep happily in car seats, these aren t good for their spines, so you don t want them to spend too long cooped up in one. Many babies also sleep happily in prams. While it s fine for your baby to have some naps in her pram, the constant motion means she won t get the same quality of sleep she gets when she s stationary. A Moses basket is better for the very early days, advises Nicola. It s light, so you can carry your baby around, and more enclosed. Your newborn has spent nine months tucked up inside your womb, so that cosy, enclosed space might be easier to get used to than a cot. All you need in the cot or Moses basket is a new mattress and an undersheet. Babies shouldn t have pillows, duvets or quilts, says Nicola. They re a suffocation risk. Dress your baby in a babygro or vest, and use blankets or a sleep bag, dependent on the temperature. The ideal room temperature is 18 C. Baby s first week What your baby s sleep might look like 8am - 9am 9am - 11am 11am - midday Midday - 1pm 1pm - 2pm 2pm - 4pm 4pm pm 4.30pm - 5pm 30 minutes or so. Sleep helps them process what they re experiencing and also lets them block everything out for a while. WAKE HER FOR NAPPY CHANGES The only other time you would need to disturb your baby is if she d done a poo, says Nicola. It s never a good idea to leave a baby in a soiled nappy because the poo can cause nappy rash. This can hurt so much it can end up interrupting your baby s sleep. However, poos and feeds aside, the rule for the early days is simple: enjoy the rest! MAKE THE MOST OF IT Because your baby s sleeping so much, you get a few days to rest and recover too, says Nicola. Try to make the most of it. The temptation is to rush about like superwoman, doing the housework and writing thank-you cards. But resist that urge to be busy. You re going to be tired after the birth too and it won t be long before the demands of a new baby start taking all your energy. So use these few days to bank a bit of downtime. If you can, sleep when your baby does. If you can t, at least put your feet up. 5pm - 6pm 6pm pm 8.30pm - 9pm 9pm pm 11.30pm - midnight Midnight - 2am 2am - 3am 3am - 5am 5am - 6am 6am - 8am KEY Sleep Feed Awake motherandbaby.co.uk 7

8 One to six weeks WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW In these early weeks, babies sleep a lot, and their sleep patterns are erratic. They will sleep almost as much during the day as they do at night. It s key at this stage to understand the impact of feeding on sleep patterns. The main thing that wakes your baby up is hunger, says Nicola Watson, founder of Child Sleep Solutions, a child sleep consultancy. If he takes in a little bit of milk and falls asleep, that milk will soon pass through him and he ll wake up wanting more. So a pattern of short feeds and short 8 motherandbaby.co.uk sleeps develops. Your baby isn t getting the quality of sleep that will help him feel refreshed, and you ll start to feel you re doing nothing except feeding him. UNDERSTAND YOUR BABY S NEED TO FEED Most babies this age can manage three hours between feeds, says Nicola. That s three hours from the start of one feed to the start of the next. So, if you fed your baby at ESSENTIAL! Young babies can get painfully gassy as they take in air while they re breast- or bottle-fed. To wind him, hold him against your shoulder and rub firmly on his back. This should bring up a burp. 7am, you d need to feed him again at 10am. Even though he s still young, you can start to ease him into this three-hourly routine. However, in order to manage three hours between feeds, a baby must be taking in a decent amount of milk at every feed. Easier said than done with a sleepy baby who drifts off mid-feed! If your baby is waking up hungry after less than three hours, you must encourage

9 him to feed more, which will ease the waking. Never make a hungry baby wait for food. Instead, feed more frequently as he needs it. Look at how long your baby is feeding for (if he s breastfeeding) or how much milk he s drinking (if he s bottle-fed). Then consider how long your baby is going between feeds. If he s asking for food more than once every three hours, encourage him to drink more at every feed. This is easier to judge if he s bottle-feeding as you can see how much he s had. If you re breastfeeding, encourage him to feed for longer. Say your baby usually breastfeeds for 15 minutes and then falls asleep, says Nicola. Or, if he s bottle- fed, he has 75ml and then nods off. At the point when he s drifting off, stop, wind him and change his nappy. This will wake him up. Then you can offer him more. Taking in just a little bit should stretch his sleep out. If you do this at every feed, slowly the gaps between feeds will grow. Try to do this until you ve got into a routine of daytime feeds that happen every three hours. DEVELOP AN EASY BEDTIME ROUTINE The other essential job at this early stage is to start a bedtime routine. It s never too early to start giving your baby cues about bedtime, says Nicola. Your baby is still little and sleepy, so may only be capable of being awake for 45 minutes at a time. But if you know he s usually nodding off by, say, 6pm, you can use the time he s awake before that to do the things you ll want to be doing when he s older as a bedtime routine. Give him a top and tail wash, a feed and a change. Get him into his night stuff, close the curtains, read a gentle story and put him in his cot. If you always do the same things, in the same order, at roughly the same time, your baby will start to recognise them as sleep cues. One to six weeks What your baby s sleep might look like 8am am 8.30am am 9.30am - 11am 11am am 11.30am pm 12.15pm pm 1.15pm pm 2.15pm pm 2.45pm - 4pm 4pm pm 4.30pm - 5pm 5pm pm 5.30pm - 6pm 6pm pm 8.30pm - 9pm 9pm pm 11.30pm - midnight KEY Sleep Midnight - 2am 2am - 3am 3am am 5.15am - 6am Awake 6am - 8am Feed motherandbaby.co.uk 9

10 ONE TO SIX WEEKS As clear as night and day When babies are first born they don t know the difference between night and day. Their sleep patterns aren t set by light and darkness, but by hunger, so they sleep and wake on their own happy little milky schedules. But this blurring of the boundaries between day and night can leave you feeling sleep-addled. One of the most important things you can do during these early weeks is help your baby understand that there is a difference between night and day. Learning this will help to set his body clock and mean he starts to become sleepier at night and more alert in the day. NIGHT-TIME CALM The trick to helping your baby learn the difference between night and day is to behave very differently at night from the way you behave during the day. At night, keep the lights dim, don t talk or play with your baby and keep everything low-key. When he wakes up to feed don t play or chat just do what you have to do and then settle him back in his Moses basket or cot. 10 motherandbaby.co.uk You re teaching him that night is dull it s not worth waking up because there s nothing going on! DAYTIME FUN During the day, it s all different. Open the windows to let in as much natural light as possible. Talk to your baby, make eye contact and play with him. When he s awake if you have time in between feeding and him dozing off again give him some time out of his nappy, lying on a playmat or blanket, and feed him every three hours. Get outside into the daylight whenever you can, as being in natural daylight is the best way to adjust your baby s body clock. If you aren t up to taking him out much in the early days, Q Every ask a friend if she ll take him out in the pram. If you ve got a garden, just sit in the shade and give him a cuddle. It s fine for your baby to nap in his pram, but do be aware of the temperature. In the summer this is less of a problem, but in the winter parents often bundle babies up in lots of clothes to keep them warm outside, but leave them on once they re back in a warm house or shop. Always adjust the layers in relation to the temperature. Until your baby has learned the difference between day and night, keep his daytime naps in the daylight. So don t pull the blind down and don t worry about trying to make the room quiet. Night is dark and quiet. Day isn t. time I put my baby down, he cries. What should I do? A: If your baby cries and you want to comfort him, go with your instincts, says Nicola. But it s worth considering what sort of cry your baby is making. Babies often make a low-level, grizzling noise just before they go off to sleep. If your baby s doing that, there s no need to pick him up. But if he is crying, pick him up, check for wind and cuddle him. As you put him down again, give him extra reassurance by leaving your hand on his tummy for a short while.

11 One to six weeks BUY THIS! Gro-egg room thermometer, 21.99, gro.co.uk/gro-egg WHY IT HELPS: Your baby will find it easier to sleep if the temperature is comfortable, and the easiest way to keep an eye on this is with a thermometer. The Gro-egg is brilliant as it glows yellow when the temperature s right, blue if the room is too cold, and red if it s too hot. So, even when you re exhausted, it s easy to tell whether the temperature s OK or not. motherandbaby.co.uk 11

12 Six weeks to three months WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW By six weeks your baby will be becoming more responsive. She ll be able to stay awake for longer, and by 12 weeks old she may be able to stay awake for as long as two hours at a time. She ll also be better at feeding, so she ll be able to take in what she needs more efficiently. If you ve got into a rhythm with feeding, you might be seeing some sort of a rhythm of daytime naps and night sleep. Now is the time if you haven t done it before to 12 motherandbaby.co.uk build some routines into your day, says Nicola Watson, founder of Child Sleep Solutions, a child sleep consultancy. The ideal routine is for your baby to have three naps during the day, each one around 90 minutes long. This is long enough to let her wake up feeling refreshed, so she gets good quality awake time, as well as good-quality sleep. If you put your baby down to sleep at the same time every day, you ll really help to get those sleep rhythms established. DON T STRESS ABOUT THE ROUTINE But don t worry this doesn t mean you have to stay in, following a rigid routine. It s useful to have a routine, says Nicola. When things are predictable babies feel secure and find it easier to sleep. But it s fine to be relaxed within the routine. If you want to be outside at nap-time, let your baby nap in the pram. Or if you want to go to a baby group and it means pushing your baby s nap a bit later, then as long as your baby can cope with that, go for it.

13 It s helpful if babies can have the second nap of the day in their cot, as this is when they re at their most tired. But you don t have to be rigid about it. You need routines that work for you as well as for your baby. WATCH OUT FOR COLIC A big issue for babies of this age is colic an overall term doctors use for babies who scream or cry for no obvious reason. It usually happens between 5pm and 11pm, which sends any bedtime routine into disarray. The good news is that colic often settles down by the time a baby s 12 weeks old, says Nicola. Sadly, no-one really knows what it s all about. One theory is that it happens because a baby is overtired. So if your baby usually starts to show signs of colic at 8pm, try heading it off by changing her bedtime. Get it done earlier, so she s being put down for her first sleep of the night by 7.30pm. This may take a few days to work. Six weeks to three xxxxxxx months CHECK IT ISN T REFLUX The other thing to check is that your baby isn t suffering from reflux, rather than colic. This is where milk comes back up the baby s throat, mixed with stomach acid, so it hurts. It occurs because babies digestive systems are still maturing, so the valve at the top of their stomachs, which usually stops food getting back into our throat, isn t strong enough to work. There are different forms of reflux, says Nicola. One is the messy kind, in which milk comes up and gets vomited out. The second is silent reflux, and it s this that can be mistaken for colic. If a baby has silent reflux she won t vomit, but the milk and stomach acid will give ESSENTIAL! At nine weeks your baby starts to experience non-rem (rapid eye movement) sleep. This is deep sleep. It usually happens in the first part of the night, before midnight, so cue her up for this with a soothing bedtime routine. If she s showing signs of colic, try bringing her bedtime forward. her painful heartburn. You ll see her arching her back and crying. If you try to give her a feed she might start drinking eagerly but then pull away and fuss. The pain will be related to feeds, whereas colic isn t. If you re worried, talk to your doctor, as there are medicines that can help. What your baby s sleep might look like 7am am 7.30am am 8.30am - 10am 10am am 10.30am am 11.15am pm 1.15pm pm 1.45pm pm 2.45pm pm 4.15pm pm 4.45pm pm 5.30pm - 6pm 6pm pm 6.30pm pm 6.45pm - 7pm (bathtime) KEY Sleep 7pm pm 7.15pm pm 7.30pm - 11pm 11pm - midnight Midnight - 3am Awake 3am - 4am 4am - 7am Feed motherandbaby.co.uk 13

14 Babies have sleep windows. These are short periods of time around 10 to 15 minutes during which they re tired and, if you put them down, they are likely to drift off to sleep easily. If you miss these sleep windows, your baby wakes up again, but enters the state of over-tiredness. She ll be alert and awake, but because she s wired, not because she s refreshed. An over-tired baby finds it hard to settle to sleep. And, just to complicate matters, the time a baby starts getting tired can change slightly day-by-day. So you need to watch your baby and start to learn her sleep cues. RECOGNISE THE SIGNS With most babies, the first sign they re tired is that they start moving less. Instead of looking around, they might stare fixedly at one spot. Some babies tug their ears, others start moving their head frantically from side to side. These all indicate your baby s in her sleep window. If you can get your baby into her cot at this point, she ll probably happily have a nap. 14 motherandbaby.co.uk SIX WEEKS TO THREE MONTHS Watch and learn If you miss these cues, your baby will start to yawn and rub her eyes. But by this point, although you re still within the sleep window, she s heading towards over-tiredness. Frustratingly, some babies don t give any sleep cues. One minute they re fine, the next wailing in exhaustion. If your baby is like this, try to judge when she ll need a nap by timings. Babies of this age will need a sleep after being up for between 90 minutes to two hours. Each baby s different, so watch and learn what your little one needs in terms of daytime sleep. MISSED THE WINDOW? If you miss your baby s sleep window, it will be harder to get her to drift off. But there are things you can do to help her get sleepy again. The first is to hold her so she s facing a blank, white wall. There s nothing to stimulate her, so she may well settle. Another soothing sensation is skin-to-skin contact. So give her a cuddle with her bare chest against yours. If you ve missed her sleep window because you re out, use a sleep shade to make the pram dark, pick a quiet spot and say whatever it is you usually say when it s nap-time, like, Sleepy time. Q I can t tell whether my baby is hungry or sleepy. Any tips? A: This can be tricky because many babies, especially if they re breastfed, find sucking soothing and use it to get themselves off to sleep, says Nicola. They ll ask for food not because they re hungry but because they want to suck. The trick is to separate feeding from sleep. Do this by using a three-hour feeding routine during the day, feeding your baby every three hours from the start of her last feed. If your baby is still asleep at the three-hour point, let her carry on sleeping, but don t let her sleep for more than four hours without a feed. So if you gave your baby a feed at 7am, she may go on to have others roughly at 10am, 1pm, 4pm and 7pm. Feed at these intervals, and let your baby have as much as she wants, and you ll know she s getting enough. So when she fusses, you ll know food isn t the issue.

15 Six weeks to three months BUY THIS! The Snugglbundl, 39.99, WHY IT HELPS: Simple, but ever-so-effective, the Snugglbundl is a strong cotton baby blanket with handles. Why does it help with sleep? Because if your baby goes off to sleep in a pram, the handles mean you can lift her up in the blanket and transfer her, without waking her up, into her Moses basket or cot.

16 Three to four months WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW When your baby reaches 12 weeks a big shift happens. It s like he wakes up and transforms from a newborn into a baby. His eyesight improves, he s better at differentiating between people he knows and people he doesn t, and he s much more interested in the world. It s wonderful, says Nicola Watson, founder of Child Sleep Solutions, a child sleep consultancy. But it can make it much harder to settle your baby off to sleep, especially during the day. 16 motherandbaby.co.uk In the weeks since he was born, your baby has been learning that night is a time for sleep, and his body has matured enough to start experiencing the natural night cues. He s producing the hormone melatonin, which regulates sleep; his digestive system slows, so he needs less food during these hours, and his temperature lowers slightly, which also aids sleep. But during the day, those physical changes don t occur. This makes sleep harder to achieve and ESSENTIAL! Some parents like to give their baby a dream feed at around 11pm. The idea is that it tops babies up and helps them sleep longer. It works for some babies; it doesn t work for others. If your baby wakes up for the feed, it s not working. And if your baby is taking the feed but still waking several times in the night, it s not working. In fact, it could be that the dream feed is stimulating your baby s digestive system. If this is the case, stop giving it.

17 that s before you factor in the fact that your baby has suddenly discovered that it s more interesting to be awake than asleep! MAKE DAYTIME NAPS EASY To help your baby sleep during the day, you need to programme his internal nap clock, says Nicola. Put him down for his naps at the same time every day. This regular routine will teach him to expect to sleep at that time, which will make him become sleepier at that time. REMOVE STIMULATION Make your baby s sleep environment boring. While an age-appropriate comforter is fine, don t have toys in his cot. Mobiles can cause sleep issues too, says Nicola. If your baby has a mobile that he can see while he s lying in his cot, remove it. Watching it might be so interesting, it stops him nodding off. In fact, at this age, a line on a white wall can be stimulating enough to keep a baby awake. To remove as much stimulation as possible, make your baby s room dark for daytime naps and night-time sleeps. A blackout blind really helps. DON T SWITCH ON! Don t switch on a light if you enter the room where your baby s sleeping. Normal lights even if a dimmer switch is fitted stop our bodies producing melatonin, the hormone that aids sleep, says Nicola. Have a night light instead. These low-level lights don t impact on melatonin, but enable you to see well enough to change a nappy. Unless your baby seems really unsettled, don t get into the habit of leaving a night light on all night. UNSWADDLE HIM If you ve been swaddling, now is the time to stop because there s a chance your baby will be an early roller. If a baby rolls in a swaddle, he can get stuck on his front, which could be dangerous. HANG ON IN THERE Sleep deprivation can kick in for parents now too. Up until this point, although it s been tough, we get through because we expect it to be tough. But at this stage, we re all hoping it s going to get easier. Don t beat yourself up, especially if a friend s baby has just started sleeping through. Keep persevering with your sleep routine it will happen for you one day too! Three to four months What your baby s sleep might look like 7am am 7.30am - 9am 9am am 10.30am - 11am 11am am 11.45am pm 1.15pm pm 1.30pm - 2pm 2pm pm 3.15pm - 4pm 4pm pm 4.30pm - 5pm 5pm pm 5.30pm pm KEY Sleep 6.30pm - 7pm 7pm pm 7.30pm - 11pm 11pm pm 11.30pm - 2am Awake 2am - 3am 3am - 7am Feed motherandbaby.co.uk 17

18 THREE TO FOUR MONTHS Let her fall asleep by herself Self-settling is a phrase used to describe babies who can get off to sleep without help, such as rocking. Babies can learn to do this at any stage, but by the time your little one is three months old, it s worth putting some gentle routines in place to help. Make sure your baby s sleeping environment is comfortable. She should be comfy, it should be dark and the temperature should be around 18 C. Make her nap-time and bedtime consistent, putting her down at the same times every day, as far as is possible. This will help programme her body clock to start to feel sleepy around those times. Give her clear cues that it s time to sleep with a nap-time and bedtime routine. BEDTIME ROUTINE Your baby s bedtime routine should be longer than her nap-time routine because it needs to relax her after the stimulation of the day. So, if you re aiming to have your baby asleep by 7.30pm, start your bedtime routine at 6.45pm. Give her a bath, a feed and a nappy change, then dress 18 motherandbaby.co.uk her in her night clothes. Read a story, turn off the lights, have a cuddle, then lay her down in her cot and say goodnight. It helps if you can do the whole post-bath routine in the room in which your baby sleeps. NAP-TIME ROUTINE A nap routine should be shorter than the bedtime routine: five minutes is fine. Give her a verbal cue, such as Sleepy time darling. Then take her upstairs, pull the curtains and turn off the light. Give her a cuddle, put her in her cot, give her the comforter and go out. The important thing is that you do the same things, in the same order, before every nap. If you mix the order up your baby will notice and switch into alert mode! TEACH HER TO SELF-SETTLE Whether it s bedtime or nap-time, put your baby into her cot when she s awake. If you re cuddling her when she goes off to sleep, she ll wake up expecting you still to be cuddling her. When you re not, she ll be startled and wake fully. But if she s gone off to sleep in her cot, it won t be a surprise when she wakes up in her cot, and it will be easier for her to settle herself back to sleep. Q My baby will only nap in the pushchair, not her cot. Help! A: Sleep in a cot is better quality sleep than sleep in a pram, says Nicola. The constant motion of a pram can stop your baby from drifting into deep sleep. To help her settle in her cot during the day, try some white noise to help her zone out. There are plenty of white noise apps to download. If she s still unsettled, stay with her and place your hand on her tummy. Keep trying to soothe her to sleep for an hour. If she doesn t go to sleep after an hour, act as if it s waking up time. Get her up, then go for a walk and let her sleep in the pram. Then try again the next day, and persevere.

19 Three to four months BUY THIS! The Babybay Bedside Cot, 294, WHY IT HELPS: The Babybay Bedside Cot is a heightadjustable cot that attaches securely to your bed. Your baby s right there with you, but safe in her own space, giving you all the benefits of co-sleeping without the associated risks. And when your baby has outgrown the cot, you can turn it into a desk or bench. motherandbaby.co.uk 19

20 Four to six months WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW This is the age when you might feel your baby s sleep is taking a step backwards. Some big developmental changes are happening during these months that can disturb sleep. One of the biggies is when babies learn to roll and sit up. Your baby s brain is so busy processing these skills he starts to practise them in his sleep, says Nicola Watson, founder of Child Sleep Solutions, a child sleep consultancy. Cue rolling around or banging himself against the side of the cot. 20 motherandbaby.co.uk This is most likely to happen during the night, in the period when your baby is going through light REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, says Nicola. This is most common at 3am. The best way to deal with it is to give your baby as much time during the day as possible to practise, and so master, these skills. You may have to spend a few days helping him get back into a comfortable position while he rockets around the cot. Keep your intervention as low-key as possible. Just reposition him, give him a bit of reassurance if you feel he needs it, then leave. Bear in mind cot bumpers aren t recommended by sudden ESSENTIAL! If your baby wakes at 5am, treat it as a night waking. Don t turn on the light. Don t take him downstairs. And don t let him watch Peppa Pig on the ipad! Light from screens, such as laptops, stops the production of the sleep hormone melatonin. infant death syndrome (SIDS) prevention groups, not even the breathable cot bumpers.

21 DON T LET HIM GET OVER-TIRED Sleep problems often come about because all the rolling and waking means that babies can easily get over-tired, says Nicola. This makes it harder to settle them if and when they do wake up. An over-tired baby of this age can take up to 45 minutes to settle, and if you re doing that twice a night, you ll soon feel exhausted. So it s worth going all-out to make sure your baby is getting the daytime naps he needs. If he gets those, he ll be less over-tired at bedtime and easier to settle through the night. Do the nap routines, watch your baby for signs of tiredness and move naps (and your baby s bedtime) forward if you need to. Rest assured that these problems shouldn t last too long. Most babies will stop the bump-tastic night-time rolling after a few weeks. BE FLEXIBLE ABOUT FEEDING Once your baby has mastered the art of rolling, he s reached the age when he could and that s different to can sleep through the night without a feed. Some babies will, of course, still need a feed. Some mums find their babies are actually a little bit hungrier than normal, and need a small feed around 5am. The current NHS advice is that babies should start being weaned onto solids when they re six months old, says Nicola. In this run-up time, your baby might seem hungrier than he did before. Try to increase the amount of milk he gets during the day, but if he is waking up for a 5am feed and you can t settle him in any other way, accept that you ll probably have to give him this feed until he s eating protein, somewhere between six and seven months old. SHORTEN THE AFTERNOON NAP Between four and six months, you should expect to see your baby s afternoon nap start to drop off. A baby this age usually needs an hour s nap in the morning, a two-hour nap around lunchtime and a shorter nap in the afternoon, says Nicola. At four months the final nap might be an hour long, but by six months it should be down to a cat-nap of 20 minutes. Don t let him sleep any later than 5pm, or he ll struggle to sleep at bedtime. Four to six months What your baby s sleep might look like 7am am 7.30am - 9am 9am - 10am 10am am 10.30am - 11am 11am am 11.45am pm 1.30pm - 2pm 2pm pm 4.30pm - 5pm 5pm pm 5.30pm pm 6.30pm - 7pm 7pm pm 7.30pm - midnight KEY Sleep Midnight - 1am Awake 1am - 7am Feed motherandbaby.co.uk 21

22 FOUR TO SIX MONTHS Drop the night feed if you can Babies develop at their own pace, but somewhere between the ages of three and six months, most are physically able to sleep for a long stretch at night. This could be anything from 10 hours to 12 hours. Your baby s digestive system should by now be in a pattern of working fast during the day, when he s moving and needs energy to be released quickly, and slowly at night, so he might not need to wake up for food. However, lots of babies do still wake up during the night. So what s going on? We all go through a sleep cycle when we sleep. We have deep sleep and light sleep. When we re in deep sleep it s hard to wake us up. When we re in light sleep, it s much easier for us to be disturbed. And at the end of every sleep cycle, which lasts 45 minutes in babies of this age, we all stir. Usually we drop straight back off to sleep again, but if a baby is used to being helped to sleep in some way, such as by feeding, he will expect that comfort when he stirs. 22 motherandbaby.co.uk So how can you tell whether a baby really is hungry, or whether he s just looking for comfort? RUN THROUGH A MENTAL CHECKLIST If your baby is waking up at night and asking for milk, the first thing to ask yourself is, Is he getting enough milk during the day? If he s getting plenty during the day, he shouldn t be overly hungry at night. Next, ask yourself, Is he hungry for his first feed in the morning? This means he clamours for food as soon as he sees you. If he s completely happy to play and be distracted for half an hour in the morning before you feed him, he isn t hungry for that first feed and that means he s having too much to drink in the night. Finally, ask, How long is my baby feeding at night? If he s just feeding for five minutes, he might be thirsty. Check that the room temperature is around 18ºC and that he s in the right clothing and bedding. If he is and if he s had plenty to drink in the day, so he s well-hydrated he s probably just asking for milk to soothe himself back to sleep. It s normal to worry whether or not you ve got it right, so don t stress. If you re not sure that your baby is getting enough milk, always err on the side of caution and feed him he should never go hungry! Q I haven t the energy to help my baby settle back to sleep. What can I do? A: Sleep deprivation is awful and it s important to find ways of looking after yourself, says Nicola. If you can, ask people you trust to come and be with your baby during the day so you can grab some sleep. Or, for a week, give your body a sleep boost by going to bed when your baby goes for his first night sleep, between (roughly) 7pm and 11pm. This is the time of night when your baby has his deep, non-rem sleep, and is least likely to wake. It s not much fun going to bed at 7pm, but as a temporary measure it will help.

23 Four to six months Keep running through your mental checklist and you will gradually learn what s right for your baby. SETTLE HIM IN ANOTHER WAY If you are convinced your baby is using milk to soothe himself to sleep, try to settle him in another way. Put your hand on his tummy to give him reassurance, and use soothing ssshing noises. As a temporary measure, and only for a few nights, rock him to sleep to help him move away from using milk as a settling aid. CUT DOWN YOUR BABY S NIGHT FEEDS If your baby is genuinely feeding at night, slowly cut down the amount he s getting at this feed. If he s bottle-fed, cut down the night feed by an ounce a day. If he s breastfed, cut down the length of time he s feeding by a few minutes. Within three days he should be compensating for the shorter night feeds by drinking more during the day, which should, hopefully, help him sleep through. BUY THIS! Fuchsia Sparkle Blackout Cordless Roller Blind, 17.99, WHY IT HELPS: Babies sleep better in dark rooms than in natural light. This is cordless, which is a great option as cords are a choking risks for babies. motherandbaby.co.uk 23

24 Six to nine months WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW This is the age when your baby should drop her afternoon nap. At six months she might still need a minute cat-nap in the afternoon, but by eight months it should be gone. If it s not, you ll probably find your baby either won t be ready for sleep at bedtime or she ll start waking really early in the morning. Once your baby s eight months old, if she s getting good naps earlier in the day, you want her awake from 24 motherandbaby.co.uk her last nap by 3.30pm at the latest, says Nicola Watson, founder of Child Sleep Solutions, a child sleep consultancy. This gives her a long wakeful period before bed. Ideally, you re looking for her to sleep through the night, have a 45-minute sleep in the morning and a two or two-and-a-halfhour sleep in the middle of the day. KEEP BEDTIME CALM At about six months, don t be surprised if your baby starts to get extra-excited ESSENTIAL! It s now that babies are often moved into their own room. You ll inevitably worry about this, but your baby is likely to handle it without a fuss. Get her used to her new room a month before she makes the move to make it feel familiar and safe. Let her have naps in there, and do part of her bedtime routine in that room. The night of the move, don t change her sheet or sleep bag, so she has a familiar smell to help her settle.

25 when a working parent returns home. That s lovely, but it causes problems if your partner is getting home just as you re settling your baby off to sleep, says Nicola. They re both pleased to see one another, there are big cuddles and laughter and your baby gets excited. But then she won t re-settle, because you ve missed the sleep window and she s tipped into over-tiredness. However, this is an easy problem to solve. If the returning-from-work partner gets home as the bedtime routine starts, build them into the routine, says Nicola. Let them do the bath or change the nappy or read a bedtime story. If they do the same thing every night, your baby won t be so stimulated by them. The other alternative, if your partner can t predict what time they ll be home, is to agree that unless they re home before the bedtime routine begins, they won t interrupt. That includes agreeing to not poke their head round the door to say goodnight! Instead, they can be the one to get up and have time with the baby in the morning. DITCH THE DUMMY Current research says that if you ve started a baby on a dummy, you should retain it until she s six months old. This is because it seems to offer a small amount of protection against SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome). But by the time your baby s six months old, her sleep, and yours, will improve if you take it away. Whatever a baby does to get herself to sleep at bedtime, she also needs to do when she wakes up in the night, says Nicola. If she s sucking a dummy at bedtime, she ll wake up in the night, try and suck, and discover the dummy s fallen out of her mouth. This will wake her up completely, she ll start searching for it and she ll probably cry. The best solution is to go cold turkey: take the dummy away at bedtime and comfort your baby. Try to find a way of soothing her that doesn t require physical effort, says Nicola. Keep a hand on her and say sssh, or sit with her. Most babies cry for their dummy for up to a week. But although these bedtimes are far harder, many parents find their babies wake less during the night from the first night without a dummy. So there s instant payback! Six to nine months What your baby s sleep might look like 6.30am - 7am 7am - 8am 8am am (breakfast) 8.30am am 9.15am - 10am 10am - 11am 11am am 11.15am - midday Midday pm (lunch) 12.30pm pm 2.30pm - 3pm 3pm pm 3.15pm pm pm (drop at 8 mths) 5pm pm (supper) 5.30pm pm 6.30pm - 7pm 7pm pm 7.30pm am KEY Sleep Awake Feed motherandbaby.co.uk 25

26 SIX TO NINE MONTHS Consider whether you want to sleep train Sleep training involves a process of training your baby to sleep better, and most experts agree it s fine to sleep train babies from the age of six months. There are many different approaches, including controlled crying. However, a more gentle method that still gets results is gradual withdrawal. Sleep training isn t something you should do and certainly isn t something you must do. It s simply something that might be an option. Some parents decide to sleep train, others don t, so it s a decision that s entirely yours to make. Don t be swayed by what other people are doing; think about what feels right for you and your baby. And don t view the techniques as set in stone. You can adapt the methods to make them as slow and gentle as you wish. GRADUAL WITHDRAWAL As the name suggests, the idea is to gradually withdraw your input from the settling process. 26 motherandbaby.co.uk First of all, work out what you re doing that your baby is dependent on to fall asleep, for example, rocking. Then stop doing it as gradually as feels comfortable for you. You should give your baby lots of support in other ways. For example, you can still stay with her, keep your hand on her tummy, and make a ssh noise. The important thing is that you re slightly less involved than before. Keep this up for three nights. Then make another small withdrawal. If you had been keeping your hand on your baby s tummy while she nodded off, stop doing this, but remain sitting next to the cot, saying sssh. Three nights on, try moving further away from the cot, still saying sssh. Three nights on again, say sssh but this time from outside the door. Very slowly and gently, your baby will get used to getting herself to sleep with less and less input from you. It usually takes between seven nights and three weeks to see results from gradual withdrawal, but it suits many parents as it s a very gentle way of helping their baby self-settle. Q My baby s teething is disrupting her sleep. What can I do? A: Teething can happen on and off for the first three years of your baby s life. This means that while it can be painful, you can t let it derail your baby s routine, says Nicola. Instead, when the pain first kicks in, do whatever you can to comfort your baby. This may mean giving her medicine. Once she s three months she can have an age-appropriate dose of Nurofen for Children. This is a better choice than Calpol as it s an anti-inflammatory as well as a painkiller, and the pain from teething s caused by inflammation of the gums. The medicine takes the edge off the pain, so if you carry on as normal this should, hopefully, help her settle.

27 Six to nine months What is controlled crying? This is a tougher method of sleep training. You go through the bedtime routine, put your baby into her cot, say goodnight and then leave, even if she s crying. If she doesn t settle, you come back at regular intervals, check she s OK and repeat, Sleepy time, before going, again even if she s upset. The aim is to gradually leave a slightly longer gap before going back in until she settles. Some babies like it when their parents go in and the regular visits help settle them; others cry more. Most parents find their baby settles within a week of starting controlled crying. If it s something you d like to try, ask yourself whether you ll be able to stick with it. It s not easy listening to your baby cry. And if you sleep train for 45 minutes then give up, all you ve done is taught her that if she cries long enough she ll get the attention she wants. BUY THIS! Hush Comfort Baby Monitor, 24.99, WHY IT HELPS: When you move your baby into her own room, a monitor will reassure you she s OK and alert you when she wakes. Some monitors have video screens, but don t discount a simpler (and cheaper) model like the Hush Comfort. It might be all you need! motherandbaby.co.uk 27

28 Nine to 12 months WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW When your baby s nine months old, he ll only be having two naps a day a short one of half an hour in the morning and a long lunchtime one that ideally starts around 12.30pm. This lunchtime nap should last between two and two-and-a-half hours. The hope is that your baby is happily sleeping through the night, without any feeds, by now, says Nicola Watson, founder of 28 motherandbaby.co.uk Child Sleep Solutions, a child sleep consultancy. If he isn t, then now s the time to focus on it. Even though your baby has more staying power now, and can fuss for longer, he s still far less determined than he will be in a few months time. And even if you feel you can cope with rocking him to sleep at the moment, it won t be long before he s bigger and heavier. So if you haven t done so already, consider sleep training (see pages 26-27). SEPARATION ANXIETY Babies go through a developmental stage around nine months, and it s common for this to cause separation anxiety. Your baby feels genuinely worried when he s away from you, which can disrupt sleep. Your baby understands that you can leave him, but he doesn t know when you are going to reappear, says Nicola. Different babies experience this to a greater or lesser extent, but if your baby is frightened without

29 you, it can be hard leaving him for naps and at bedtime. Try not to amplify his worries by behaving as though there really is something to worry about. Aim to be reassuring, but consistent. Stick to your routine and stay calm, but don t start cuddling him to sleep because he ll start to expect that every night. If it helps, sit beside his cot until he s calmer, then move and sit closer to the door. Then say, Sleepy time darling and leave the room. You can do that as much as you need to build his confidence. During the day, games like peekaboo, or hiding blocks under cups and showing your baby that they come back, can help. If you do need to do something that means being away from your baby, like going to the loo or going to work, don t try and creep away, says Nicola. Tell your baby where you re going, be gentle but firm and go! Tell him that you ll be back, even if you think he won t understand. Then say, See, I m back! when you do get back. He will gradually realise that you do come back and his separation anxiety will ease. GOING BACK TO WORK Separation anxiety often coincides with mums going back to work. This is a coincidence, but it makes mums worry and feel guilty and this can transmit to your baby, affecting his sleep. Going back to work is a big transition, and it can cause all sorts of anxieties, says Nicola. Sometimes all those feelings focus on the issue of Will my baby sleep? Solving any sleep issues suddenly becomes a huge issue, and a vent for all the stresses and strains of your new life as a working mum. It s helpful to write down the worries you feel about your baby s sleep, says Nicola. When you ve figured out what you re feeling and why, you can start to think of solutions. You might consider asking for flexible working hours, so you can sleep later. Or pledge to go to bed earlier. ESSENTIAL! Your baby may learn to stand at this age, and this can interrupt sleep as he pulls himself into a standing position in his cot and then can t lie back down. Make sure he has plenty of time in the day to practise these new skills, so he can go from standing to sitting confidently. Nine to 12 months What your baby s sleep might look like 7am am 7.30am - 8am 8am am (breakfast) 8.30am am 9.30am - 10am 10am - 11am 11am am (snack) 11.15am - midday Midday pm (lunch) 12.30pm - 1pm 1pm - 3pm 3pm pm 3.15pm - 5pm 5pm pm (supper) 5.30pm pm KEY Sleep 6.30pm - 7pm 7pm pm 7.30pm - 7am Awake Feed motherandbaby.co.uk 29

30 NINE TO 12 MONTHS Learn how to cope with change A lot of mums go back to work when their baby is between nine and 12 months old. This is a big change and it often has an adverse impact on sleep. If grandparents are going to be looking after your baby in your home, he can stick to his normal routines. But if he s going to a childminder or a nursery, the routines are likely to be different and the environment new and stimulating. His daytime sleep is likely to be affected and he may get over-tired. MAKE ANY CHANGES SLOWLY To ease the transition, if you can afford the time and money, introduce your baby slowly and gradually to his new childcare regime. If you re planning to go back to work when he s 12 months old, start him in childcare when he is 11 months old. He can then build up his sessions gradually, get used to all the staff and become comfortable before the additional change of you going back to work. This gives you both time to acclimatise and feel relaxed, and this alone will help regulate his sleep. When you re choosing a childminder or nursery, ask how sleep is managed and how closely they will be able to replicate the routine that your baby is used to. If their routines are different to yours, ask them to write out the daily schedule. You can then gradually adapt your baby s home routine to fit. STICK TO YOUR BEDTIME ROUTINE Daytime changes can cause problems at bedtime. Your baby may be so over-tired that he wants extra comfort to get to sleep. And if you Q feel guilty about being away from your baby you may compensate with extra attention at night-time. This is all totally normal, but try hard not to fall into this trap. If you start cuddling your baby to sleep, or pushing bedtime back so you can spend time with him, there ll be repercussions. Your baby will get even more tired, he ll start to rely on cuddles for sleep and, before you know it, your routine will be out of the window! Keeping to the same bedtime routine reassures and helps your baby to settle faster. It feels hard, but it s worth it for both of you. My baby always falls asleep on the way home from nursery. What should I do? A: Lots of babies do this, and it can make it hard for them to go to sleep at bedtime, says Nicola. If you possibly can, keep your baby awake. If he s in a pram, don t make him too snuggly and warm. Chat to him, make eye contact, and point things out on your walk home. If you re in the car, keep a window open so there s a breeze, chat, play music and be upbeat. If he s so exhausted that he still falls asleep, keep this sleep as short as possible, and wake him up when you get home. Make sure you have a proper bedtime routine, with time to unwind. 30 motherandbaby.co.uk

31 Nine to 12 months BUY THIS! Kusiner toy storage box, 6, WHY IT HELPS: Putting toys away in boxes before your baby s bedtime is a good way of signalling to him that the time for play is over and it s time to sleep. After all, out of sight is out of mind motherandbaby.co.uk 31

32 WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW At 12 months, your baby will still be having two naps a day. The first should be a short morning nap of 20 to 30 minutes, and the second a longer nap of two to two-and-a-half hours, starting around 12.30pm. Don t miss this short morning nap. It s necessary to help your baby get through to his lunchtime nap, says Nicola Watson, founder of Child Sleep Solutions, a child sleep consultancy. Without it, he ll struggle to 32 motherandbaby.co.uk 12 to 24 months get past lunchtime without getting over-tired. He ll then struggle to relax, which could mean his lunchtime nap is shorter than he needs. And then he ll be exhausted by bedtime. The other common sleep trap parents fall into at this stage is letting the morning nap go on too long. If your baby sleeps for too long in the morning, it can be harder for him to have a long nap at lunchtime, says Nicola. This, again, leads to over-tiredness at bedtime. Around the age of 16 months, babies start to drop ESSENTIAL! Many mums are pregnant with their second child during this period, and toddlers can be unsettled as they sense change. Stick to normal sleep routines and don t make any big changes, such as potty training, during the three month period either side of the birth. the morning nap. This is the average age, but it can happen earlier or later. Be aware

33 of the signs your baby doesn t need this nap any more. It may be harder to settle him for his lunchtime nap, or trickier to settle him at night as he s getting too much daytime sleep, says Nicola. When your baby first drops his morning nap, you may notice him getting over-tired before his lunchtime one. If this is the case, bring the lunchtime sleep forward, starting it at 11am. Then, every few days, push it five minutes later. Keep doing this until you ve got a start time between midday and 1pm, says Nicola. This nap still needs to be around two hours long. KEEP A LUNCHTIME NAP By the time your baby s two, the length of his lunchtime nap may have naturally dropped to an hour, although some babies still need longer. Most children will need this nap until they re three so why do some babies drop their final nap before they are two? Your baby changes into a toddler during these months, says Nicola. There are a lot of developmental changes he walks, he talks, and he learns. One of the things he learns is that he can influence the way you behave. So he tests boundaries and may resist his nap. At this age, children have a lot of staying power, so the tussle of to nap or not to nap? can be prolonged. Your tot may resist his lunchtime sleep for a period of two to three weeks, says Nicola. However, persevere with putting him down for this nap somewhere comfortable, dark and quiet. He will, eventually, go back to having it. If your baby is one of the rare children who really does need less sleep, you ll be able to tell because he ll be fussing over a period of a few weeks at bedtime as well as at nap-time. And, when he misses his lunchtime sleep, it won t affect his behaviour. If this is the case, drop the lunchtime nap. Be aware that by the age of 18 months, the amount of sleep toddlers need varies hugely from child to child. Some will still need a lunchtime nap that lasts up to two hours. Others will only need an hour. Don t compare your little one with his friends. Instead, think about how he seems when he s awake. Is he alert, interested and refreshed? Is he settling well at bedtime? Is he waking up at a good time in the morning? If he is, then he s getting all the sleep he needs. 12 t0 24 months What your baby s sleep might look like 7am am 7.30am - 8am 8am am (breakfast) 8.30am am am (drop at 16 mths) 10am - 11am 11am am (snack) 11.15am - midday Midday pm (lunch) 12.30pm - 1pm 1pm - 3pm 3pm - 5pm 5pm pm (supper) 5.30pm pm KEY Sleep 6.30pm 7pm 7pm pm 7.30pm - 7am Awake Feed motherandbaby.co.uk 33

34 12 TO 24 MONTHS Sleep easy away from home No sane parent expects a holiday with a toddler to be as relaxing as a holiday pre-children. But how well your little one sleeps can make or break a trip away. A little preparation really makes a difference to how your baby settles, says Nicola. If you re planning to use a travel cot, use it for naps before you go so it s a familiar environment, and take slept-in rather than clean bedding as the smell will help her relax. Aim to arrive wherever you re staying before your baby s bedtime routine starts. It helps your baby settle if she s had a chance to get used to the room. Open doors (including cupboard doors) and show her what s inside. If you re staying in a house, show her around the whole house, so she gets a sense of where she is and where you ll be. The key thing is to stick to routines. Don t change her bedtime routine just because you re in a new place. And if she wakes in the night, stick to your usual way of settling her. This shows her that you re not worried, so she doesn t need to be. 34 motherandbaby.co.uk DEALING WITH JET LAG To help your baby get used to a new time zone, start adjusting your baby s body clock to the new zone before you leave, says Nicola. A baby s body clock can cope with being moved about an hour a day. So if you re going to a time zone that s two hours ahead of the UK, start two days before you leave. Shift your baby s routine forward by one hour each day. Coming home, do the same in reverse. If you re off on a long-haul adventure, this technique becomes impractical. The quickest way to adjust to new times in this scenario is to shift your baby s routine to fit in with the local time at your destination from the moment you board the plane. Then, when you arrive, get out and about as much as possible during daylight hours. Daylight regulates our body clocks, says Nicola. But stay out of direct sunlight to protect delicate skin. ADJUST TO NEW CLIMES Your baby may well be thirstier if you re going somewhere hot, so she may need extra milk or water at night. Air-conditioning can make babies thirstier too, so even if the room is a good temperature, the drier air might make her want a drink. And all the excitement may mean your baby is more tired than normal. So if you think she needs an extra nap, let her have it. Q My 18-month old keeps asking for things at bedtime. Any tips? A: Your baby has realised she can have an impact on the way you behave, says Nicola. At bedtime, this usually becomes the just one more request just one more kiss, one more drink, one more story. If you indulge her requests, she ll keep making them. To help yourself stay firm, make sure all her needs are being met at bedtime: that she s hydrated, she s comfy, she s got her bedtime comforter, the room is the right temperature, and her nappy is clean. This makes it far easier to resist giving in to her demands.

35 BUY THIS! Baby s Night-Night Storybook, by Sam Taplin, 12.99, WHY IT HELPS: A bedtime story is an important part of the routine, but choose your book carefully. One that s too interactive with lift-up flaps or tactile surfaces will stimulate your baby and make her alert rather than sleepy. Instead opt for gentle, soothing short stories to help her unwind. motherandbaby.co.uk 35

36 For more sleep advice, visit motherandbaby.co.uk