Blog Posts 1–5, based on the United States of America Department of the Army Field Manual: Holistic Healing and Fitness, describe what really matters for your child’s sleep. If sleep is an important enough topic for national defense than surely sleep should be considered a serious topic for parenting!
Sleep Fact #1 |
Proven Benefits of Healthy Sleep (Blog Posts 1–5) |
Sleep Fact #2 |
Subjective Blindness to Sleepiness (Blog Post 13) |
Sleep Fact #3 |
Co-parenting and Parental Response to Crying (Blog Posts 17 and 18) (Parents Reports 2) |
Sleep Fact #4 |
Community Sleep Consultants (Blog Post 27) |
Sleep Fact #5 |
Colic and Post-Colic Sleep Problems (Blog Post 43 and 44) (Parents Reports 6) |
Sleep Fact #6 |
Sleeping Through the Night. (Blog Post 52) (Parents Reports 5) |
Sleep Fact #7 |
Sleep Banking and Recovery from Sleep Loss (Blog Post 63) |
Sleep Fact #8 |
When to Start Sleep Training (Blog Post 67) (Parents Reports 1) |
Sleep Fact #9 |
More Sleep, Fewer Emotional and Behavioral Problems (Blog Post 75) More Sleep, Better Mental Health |
Sleep Fact #10 |
More Sleep Problems in Young Children, More Mental Health Problems in Teens (Blog Post 76) |
Sleep Fact #11 |
Bed Sharing in the First 6 Months (Blog Post 82). Bed-sharing is discouraged by the American Academy of Pediatrics because it increases the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. |
Sleep Fact #12 |
Cumulative Sleepiness (Blog Posts 84–86)
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Sleep Fact #13 |
Healthy Sleep Makes Your Child Smarter (Blog Post 121) Healthy Sleep, Smarter Child |
Sleep Fact #14 |
Healthy Sleep Makes Your Baby More Creative (Blog Post 141) Healthy Sleep, More creativity |
Sleep Fact #15 |
Regularity of Sufficient Nighttime Sleep (Blog Post 160)
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Sleep Fact #16 |
Sleep Solutions: Be Patient (Blog Post 161) (Parents Reports 2) |
For more Instagram Reels:
Blog Post 90A: Fake News
Blog Post 95A: Sleep Tips
Blog Post 96A: Sleep Basics
Blog Post 97A: Brain Health
Blog Post 99A: Early Bedtime
Blog Post 101A: Nap Tips
Blog Post 104A: Sleep Benefits
Blog Post 113A: What a Parent Can Do
My daughter will be 3 mo old on march 7. She has been swaddled since she was born at night and for all naps. She is not rolling over yet even though I’ve been working with her. My husband and I just get tired of using the swaddle blankets. She squirms around in them when she’s fussy or fighting sleep and we have to re-swaddle because it’s so loose. I’ve tried transitional swaddles but she seems uncomfortable in those. Do you have any advice on how to start the transition and the fussiness/loss of sleep that will occur? Thank you!
What is her sleep/wake schedule? What do you mean by “I’ve been working with her.”?
What exactly is the problem that you want to fix?
I lay her down for a nap (swaddled) around nine. Sometimes she’ll sleep till 12-1pm. She lays down again around 3-4 before laying her down for night sleep anywhere from 6:30-7:30 depending on how long she napped. I have been trying to transition out of the swaddle at times. I’ve tried transitional swaddles with arms in and arms out. She just doesn’t seem to like it. Do I just get rid of it cold turkey or should I even try to transition her yet? Is there a certain way to transition her that you would recommend? Of course when I’ve tried not swaddling she doesn’t rest as well as she does when swaddled. So I feel like she’s missing out on a lot of sleep she needs.
Why do you want to stop swaddling her for sleep?
Because we’re getting tired of always having to reswaddle her when she fusses or squirms. It’s not always easy to do in the middle of the night,and she’s getting to the age of getting close to rolling over. Also the AAP recommends dropping swaddle at 8 weeks.
Understood. How is her mood and behavior during the hour or two before the falling asleep time when she is left alone (not being held or soothed)?
Usually for her first nap and when she wakes up to feed in the middle of the night for the most part I can lay her down and she’ll go back to sleep on her own. Usually her afternoon and early evening nap is pretty hard to get her soothed. Usually I will rock her for a little while and then lay her down and she’ll usually fuss. My husband and I are at our wits end in the evenings anymore. It takes us a few hours to get her to sleep for the night which I dont understand because for the most part she naps pretty well during the day.
You asked about stopping swaddling your child “Because we’re getting tired of always having to reswaddle her when she fusses or squirms.” From your report, it appears that her falling asleep time is too late causing her to take a too long morning nap that interferes with a mid-day nap around 12-2pm so she has a much later nap that interferes with an age-appropriate early bedtime so that she has difficulty self-soothing at night sleep onset and in the middle of the night. Swaddling partially helps her sleep better at night but will not completely compensate for a bedtime that is too late. I think the main problem is that she is having difficulty sleeping well at night because her falling asleep time is too late. Please look at and have your husband also look at Blog Posts 9 and 115X regarding Drowsy Signs and Blog Post 99A regarding Early Bedtimes and read ‘Parents Reports’ section on ‘Bedtimes’. She wakes up fairly well rested from night sleep and her long morning nap (“for the most part she naps pretty well during the day”) but as the day progresses, her sleep tank is going to dry so by the evening and at night she is short on sleep and “she’ll usually fuss. My husband and I are at our wits end in the evenings anymore. It takes us a few hours to get her to sleep for the night.” Please let me know your thoughts.
Thanks for your reply: she wakes up around 6-7 in the morning. I have to take my son to school and pick him up, so unfortunately in the afternoon her nap will be messed up anyway. Should I try waking her up around 11 am (if I put her down at 9) so maybe she can get a little nap in before we have to leave and get my son? What is confusing to me though is that she sleeps well at night. She’ll wake up to eat and then I lay her down after that and she’ll go back to sleep. So it confuses me that we have to work so hard to get her to sleep, but you explained why in your last message. Since she is getting to the age of transitioning do you have any advice on getting her out of the swaddle? Should I be there to reassure her since she’s not used to being swaddled? Or should I just let her cry to get used to it that way?
Thank you and we’ll read those articles you suggested.
The AAP does not have a recommendation regarding an age when to not to swaddle. Please read the section on swaddling in my book. Here are two points that might help:
1. Night sleep rhythms begin to develop around 6 weeks of age but nap rhythms develop around 3-4 months of age and solidify by around 6 months of age. So better night sleep compared to naps at her age is normal. Please be patient.
2. If her day sleep schedule is off (for example, because of her brother’s scheduled activities), she will have more unsettled night sleep and the swaddling might be needed to help her sleep well at night even though this requires nighttime reswaddling. A super early bedtime might be a useful strategy. However, if she is overtired, not swaddling and letting her cry at night will make matters worse as she becomes even more sleep-deprived. My suggestion is to do the best you can to maximize day sleep and an early bedtime so there is never fatigue signs and after that is accomplished, and only then, stop swaddling and attending to her at night.
Does this help?
Yes thank you!
About how early are you suggesting?
Just for the next 3 nights, begin the bedtime routine at the first suggestion of drowsy signs, no matter how early. Even as early as 5-5:30PM (but not earlier).